King Hussein

Re "Jordan Mourns King as Leaders Gather at Funeral," Feb. 8: A wise man, well liked by most everyone in the world, compassionate to even his enemies, well-respected and admired by millions, considered one of history's finest and greatest of leaders. King Hussein of Jordan will truly by missed by all. (President Clinton, take a lesson.) DEANNA CARTER Beverly Hills King Hussein might have been the best ruler, but still he was a ruthless dictator. America, the world's most democratic nation and superpower, has done extremely wrong in glorifying the dictatorial rule in Jordan at the end of the 20th century.

Faris Fayez grew up hearing about the day in 1970 when his father and other Jordanian tribal leaders summoned the late King Hussein to complain about entrenched Palestinian fighters who were virtually occupying the country. "King Hussein was two hours late. When he finally arrived, my father stood up ? and he used to call the king by his first name ? 'Hussein,' he said, 'We feel now that for you we are the cover that the shepherd uses. When you get cold, you cover up with us. When you don't need us, you kick the cover with your feet.

King Hussein left for Baghdad on Monday for talks with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on regional developments, the state-run Petra news agency said.

A politically inexperienced king takes control of a Middle Eastern monarchy from his powerful father, surrounds himself with U.S. military hardware and spies, loses touch with his people and is finally ejected in a popular uprising. That was the tale of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, the pro-American ruler of Iran whose ouster ushered in the reign of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and three decades of Islamic rule.

King Hussein of Jordan underwent surgery at Mayo Clinic on Thursday to remove his left kidney and a blockage in his urinary tract. Hussein, 56, was resting comfortably at St. Marys Hospital, said Lt. Gen. Dr. Samir Farraj, Hussein's personal physician.

In response to "This Leak Needs to Be Plugged," editorial, July 3: I am appalled and disheartened by this editorial. Once again, the U.S. is criticizing King Hussein of Jordan for his neutral stance during the Persian Gulf War. He did not approve of the invasion of Kuwait. He desperately worked for a peaceful, diplomatic solution while President Bush was busy calling President Saddam Hussein a Hitler in order to prepare the American psyche for war. I just returned from Iraq.

King Hussein flew to Baghdad on Thursday for talks on the Middle East with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The state-run news agency Petra gave no further details of the previously unannounced trip. President Hussein, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Yemen's leader, Col. Ali Abdullah Saleh, will join King Hussein in Amman on Feb. 24 for a summit meeting of the Arab Cooperation Council.

King Hussein of Jordan pleaded Monday for dialogue with Iraq, but French President Francois Mitterrand said that only an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait could lead to a peaceful outcome to the Persian Gulf crisis. "There has to be no embargo on dialogue, there has to be dialogue to get us to achieve results," the king told reporters after nearly an hour with Mitterrand at the Elysee Palace.

Finished with his tea and backgammon, Deeb Hamouda whipped out a Palestinian newspaper and planted a kiss on the front-page photograph of Jordan's dying King Hussein. "He was our best king," Hamouda, a farmer in his 70s, said with a smile. "But he was the cause of our disaster."

Personally risky, deeply controversial and warmly human, it was a gesture that those who witnessed it will never forget. King Hussein of Jordan, direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad, had insisted on traveling to Israel to extend his personal condolences to the families of seven Israeli schoolgirls shot and killed during a border field trip by a deranged Jordanian soldier two years ago.

Hailed by some in the Pentagon as a pro-American visionary and an emerging leader of the new Iraq, Ahmad Chalabi evokes quite a different response in Jordan, where he spent 12 years and left behind economic chaos, a court conviction on numerous financial charges -- and a lengthy prison term he never served. The Iraqi dissident's sojourn here engendered a complex web of ambition, money and political intrigue.

With the Palestinian intifada raging to the west and the prospect of a U.S. invasion of Iraq to the east, Jordan once again finds itself trapped in the middle, aggravating the sense of gloom and anxiety that grips the nation. For this resource-poor but strategically important country, having to decide between its two main partners, the United States and Iraq, is a lose-lose proposition.

Jordan's King Abdullah II is urging the Bush administration to abandon ideas of taking on the regime of Saddam Hussein, predicting that any U.S. military action against Iraq could produce an "Armageddon" in the Middle East. In a telephone interview as he arrived in California for a visit that began this weekend, Abdullah warned that a U.S.

In his latest undercover expedition, Jordan's king disguised himself in old clothes and slipped out of his hilltop palace in Amman, the capital, to find out how his subjects are treated at the tax department, officials and a newspaper reported. King Abdullah II, 39, has become known for such exploits since ascending to the throne after the death of his father, King Hussein, in February 1999. Abdullah--sporting a white beard--wore shabby white Arab clothing and a traditional headdress.

King Abdullah II bridges the past and the future in the Middle East. Jordan's new monarch can trace his family back 43 generations--almost 1,400 years--to the Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam. Yet, on his recently launched website, kingabdullah.jo, he says that his vision for "a new Jordan" centers on "global integration." He's an advocate of women's rights, democratic reforms, press freedoms and membership in the World Trade Organization.

Re "Tough Choice for Barak," editorial, Oct. 24: The "tough choice" lies squarely with Yasser Arafat. I don't recall seeing Israelis rioting in Ramallah, shooting and throwing Molotov cocktails and chunks of cement at Palestinian Authority police. Nor do I recall televised coverage of an angry mob of Israelis storming the Palestinian Authority police station in Nablus to lynch Muslim prisoners. You stated, "Arab leaders worry that the calls they are hearing for action against Israel might suddenly be redirected against them."

Under drum-tight security, Jordan's King Hussein I swept into Simi Valley on Friday to receive the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award for his role in last year's groundbreaking Middle East peace accord. Flanked by bodyguards, Hussein and his wife, Queen Noor, took the stage with former First Lady Nancy Reagan amid vigorous applause and a flurry of camera flashes. After being welcomed by former U. S.

King Abdullah II of Jordan, in his first visit to California since he took over the throne last year, told 1,000 audience members at a Beverly Hills luncheon Monday that he is encouraged by prospects for peace in the Mideast.

Since his father's death thrust him onto the throne eight months ago, King Abdullah II of Jordan has often played the middle man, privately and publicly encouraging Israel and its Arab neighbors to advance the long-stalled Middle East peace process.