CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parentheticals) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Amortized cost of fixed maturities	$ 26,485,164	$ 27,111,874
Cost of equity securities	907,952	903,201
Short-term investments, amortized cost	382,509	455,470
Fair value of held to maturity securities	$ 3,209,175	$ 3,131,235
Ordinary shares, shares authorized (in shares)	999,990,000	999,990,000
Ordinary shares, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Ordinary shares, shares issued (in shares)	273,554,157	278,253,308
Ordinary shares, shares outstanding (in shares)	273,554,157	278,253,308