Abdullah Prince Of Jordan

Ending days of speculation, King Hussein of Jordan early today formally named his eldest son, Prince Abdallah, heir to the Hashemite throne and issued a rare public rebuke to the brother he removed from the line of succession. The appointment of a new successor strips Hussein's brother, Hassan, of the title of crown prince he has held for more than three decades.

Feverish and weak, King Hussein on Tuesday rushed back to the U.S. cancer clinic where he had spent much of the last six months undergoing chemotherapy, leaving Jordanians to worry about their monarch's mortality. The king's sudden departure came just hours after he had formally anointed his eldest son, Prince Abdallah, as heir to the Hashemite throne. His absence put the 36-year-old army commander in charge of the monarchy on his very first day as crown prince.

In his debut this week as crown prince, Abdullah ibn Hussein seemed at ease as he smiled warmly and clasped hands with the hundreds of politicians, Bedouin tribal leaders and clerics who paraded across the marble floors of Raghadan Palace. "We should talk--soon," he whispered to one former prime minister. "Let's get together once all these formalities are over," he told a senator.

In the final hours before he left Jordan again last week, a sick and frail King Hussein toiled late into the night, feverishly scribbling a long stream of thoughts that ended in the summary dismissal of his brother as crown prince. The king's fitful musings were interrupted by an unplanned trip to the hospital, his fifth in five days, when doctors informed him that he had to return urgently to the U.S. for more of the cancer treatment that had sustained his life.

The man who will replace King Hussein as head of the Hashemite dynasty, his eldest son, Abdullah, is keen to reassure listeners here and abroad that he will continue the policies of his dying father. Yet even as he speaks, 37-year-old Crown Prince Abdullah shows the markings of a new generation of rising leaders whose coming of age may one day sweep the Middle East. In a rare interview--his first since he was unexpectedly named heir to the throne Jan.

The transition to a Jordan without King Hussein commenced Saturday when the government declared the dying monarch too sick to rule and his son and heir, Abdullah, was sworn in as acting head of state. With Hussein losing his battle against cancer and placed on life support, his 47-year reign came to an end. The duties and responsibilities of the monarchy moved to a career army officer with little political experience who was named crown prince just 11 days ago.