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World - Middle East

With Hussein laid to rest, Abdullah begins new era

Bagpipers
Bagpipers play as Hussein's coffin is driven through the streets of Amman  
February 8, 1999
Web posted at: 11:41 p.m. EST (0441 GMT)

In this story:

Financial aid from Western allies

Gulf neighbors set feuds aside

Funeral a tableau of haunting images

RELATED STORIES, SITES



AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- With Jordan's beloved King Hussein laid to rest, the country's new ruler has already begun to open a new era for the strategic Middle Eastern country.

King Abdullah, who has indicated that he will continue his father's moderate policies, held 31 meetings with visiting heads of state Monday evening following Hussein's funeral. He planned to meet with tribal leaders on Tuesday as the country continued to observe a state of mourning.

Hassan and Abdullah
Former Crown Prince Hassan and King Abdullah mourn Hussein's death  

Largely untested outside the military, Abdullah inherited a kingdom burdened with a troubled economy and an undercurrent of dissent among his 4.6 million subjects over peace with Israel. But he has taken office buoyed by a wave of sympathy at the death of his father and by promises of financial aid to steer his kingdom through a testing future.

Financial aid from Western allies

Western allies pledged support for the 37-year-old Abdullah, whose father ruled Jordan for 46 years. Arab states with a history of distrust of Jordan said they would stick by the new monarch, who was suddenly elevated to crown prince just two weeks before his father died after a long battle with cancer.

"I have great confidence in the young king of Jordan," U.S. President Bill Clinton said Monday after attending the funeral. "He clearly understands his mission."

King Hussein
Interactive
  • A photo gallery of Jordan's final farewell to its king
  • Key dates in King Hussein's Life
  • Crown Prince Abdullah: Heir to the throne
  • Jordan: Facts and figures
  • A look at King Hussein's reign

    Video:
  • CNN's Garrick Utley reports King Abdullah will be among the monarchs who hold political power
    Real 28K 80K
    Windows Media 28K 80K


  • Scenes from the funeral
    Windows Media 28K 80K


  • For more video on King Hussein, click here
  • Clinton's expressions of support were backed by U.S. efforts to shore up Jordan's beleaguered economy. The White House was pushing to expedite $300 million in proposed aid and is lending its support for a substantial rescheduling of Jordan's national debt.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain was looking at ways of providing economic and military help, and Japan, mired in its own deep recession, said it would continue its economic support for Jordan.

    Gulf neighbors set feuds aside

    Support from the Arab world came in forms that were equally valuable to Abdullah, even if they were less tangible.

    Syrian President Hafez Assad, an old guard leader who has long viewed Jordan with suspicion, made a surprise visit to pay homage to the monarch with whom he had feuded for decades.

    Assad was among those who had private talks with King Abdullah. His presence in Amman was seen by diplomats in Damascus as an attempt to open a new chapter in relations with Jordan under its new king.

    More support came from Kuwait and from Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Gulf Arab state. Both countries had turned against Jordan over its refusal to join the international coalition arrayed against Iraq following President Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

    "The kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... was and will continue to stand by Jordan with all its potential and capabilities. ... The kingdom will stand by you strongly and steadily in good and bad times," Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah said.

    Stallion
    Hussein's riderless white stallion added to the poignancy of Monday's proceedings  

    Funeral a tableau of haunting images

    The day's events played out against a tableau of haunting images -- a riderless white stallion, a sea of sodden black flags, a pale queen in tears and a simple white burial shroud -- as Hussein was buried under a gray-veiled sky.

    Dignitaries and leaders from all over the world lionized the king, a testament to the enormous stature that belied Hussein's status as the monarch of a small and unassuming desert kingdom who preached peace in a turbulent region.

    The funeral produced some stunning scenes of reconciliation, including a handshake between a radical Palestinian guerrilla leader and Israeli President Ezer Weizman. Nayef Hawatmeh's guerrillas commandeered a school in Maalot in 1974, a hostage operation that killed 24 Israelis.

    The passing of a monarch
       Sequestered mourning for Jordan's widowed, U.S.-born queen
       Jordan's King Hussein buried
       Israelis, Palestinians bid farewell to a common friend
       World leaders who attended King Hussein's funeral
       Jordan's adopted queen: Beloved caretaker of king's legacy
       Hussein's funeral brings together friends, foes
       Jordan's peacemaker king walked a narrow line in the Mideast
       King Abdullah tells Jordanians Hussein was their father
       World leaders praise Hussein as hero of peace
       Jordanians mourn a beloved king
       Highlights of King Hussein's life

    The day was dominated by extraordinary images. Ordinary Jordanians viewed Hussein more as a father than a monarch, and wept from the heart. Grief-stricken, they showered his coffin with flowers. Police had to strain to hold back surging crowds -- estimated at 800,000 people -- seeking a final glimpse of the king.

    Echoing the poignancy of the proceedings was the appearance of the king's riderless white stallion and Noor, the American-born queen, glimpsed briefly in the palace doorway as she watched her husband's casket borne off for a solemn procession through Amman, his capital.

    The five-hour funeral was also the occasion for some delicate diplomatic moments, drawing sworn enemies like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Assad. The two stayed well apart, but even so, their presence at the same event was unprecedented.

    Wrapped in a simple shroud that harkened to the austere ways of his desert ancestors, Hussein's body was lowered into a grave in the royal cemetery under the somber gaze of his soldier son and heir Abdullah, crowned king upon his father's death Sunday from cancer at age 63.

    Reuters contributed to this report.


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