King Returns to Warm Welcome in Jordan

A gaunt but smiling King Hussein returned home Tuesday to elated, rain-drenched crowds and simmering speculation over who will succeed him as the ruler of this strategic U.S. ally.

Claiming recovery from cancer after six months of treatment in the United States, the king piloted his Royal Jordanian Air Force jet to a safe landing here. He then rode in a heavily guarded motorcade through the capital, poking his kaffiyeh-clad head through the sunroof of an aging limousine to salute the Bedouins, children, soldiers and other well-wishers who lined the streets.

Hussein’s longest-ever absence from the desert kingdom he has ruled for 46 years fed a sense of uncertainty and unease among many Jordanians faced with high unemployment, endemic corruption, new tensions with neighboring Iraq and the stagnation of Israel’s pursuit of peace with the Palestinians, who make up a majority of Jordan’s population.

His homecoming unleashed enormous relief, not to mention sky-high expectations of everything from prisoner releases to free water and an extra month’s pay. Seemingly sane Jordanians even linked the much-needed rain that ended months of drought to Hussein’s return.

“There’s a lot to be done,” the 63-year-old king told reporters upon his arrival. “Every now and then, we have to review, we have to see what needs to be done to consolidate the country, to make people feel more comfortable and more confident in the future.”

Jordan’s future is important to the United States because of Hussein’s ability to serve as a highly regarded mediator between Mideast antagonists and because of the kingdom’s position as alternative homeland to the Palestinians.

The palace and Hussein himself have opened a new round of speculation about succession and political and economic reforms. In a speech in London on the eve of his return, the monarch promised to undertake “a sweeping review” of government policy, and in Amman, royal officials floated a plan to convene the so-called Family Council, a board that could revise the line of succession.

Hussein’s brother, Crown Prince Hassan, has been the designated heir since 1965, and he served as Hussein’s regent, or acting replacement, for the past six months, to mixed reviews.

But rumors swirl around the palace these days about efforts by the king and his fourth and current wife, American-born Queen Noor, to set up their eldest son, Hamzah, to take over eventually from Hassan. Hamzah, however, would find himself in competition with the sons of Hussein’s previous wives, as well as with Hassan’s son, Rashid.

In a scenario that one commentator likened to “The Bold and the Beautiful, Middle Eastern-Style,” the speculation is further fueled by debate over whether the mother of any successor must be 100% Arab and Muslim-born, in which case only Hussein’s son Ali, by his third wife, Alia, who died in a helicopter crash, fits the bill. Ali’s reputation as a playboy, however, is said to have bumped him from the lead in the race to reign.

On Tuesday, Hussein sought to minimize the rumors, saying such talk was “just a dream and expectation.” He pointedly thanked Hassan for his fill-in work, but palace-watchers saw significance in the fact that the king has taken to omitting Hassan’s title of crown prince.

“I’m sure he doesn’t like all this gossip going around and wants to solve it very quickly and also have a hand in naming the next crown prince [after Hassan],” said one Jordanian analyst.

For the admirers of Hussein who turned out to welcome him Tuesday, the matter of who would be king was best left to the Hashemite dynasty that rules Jordan.

Admiration took on hyperbolic tones. Along the king’s motorcade route, which was festooned with banners, flags and pictures of Hussein from seemingly every era of his life, Bedouin merchants and shepherds erected tents and danced, sang and chanted in his honor.

Saleh Fayez, 42, had brought along a camel, which was lounging in the bed of a pickup truck, that he said he planned to slaughter at the moment the king passed by. Fayez, scion of the Beni Sacher tribe, one of Jordan’s largest, and his clan were able to place their tent on prime real estate, right in front of the prime minister’s office.

“We would sacrifice our lives for our king, so what’s a camel?” he said, as servants poured steaming spiced tea from long-snouted kettles.

Asked about the future king, Fayez began to muse that Hamzah, the eldest son by Noor, would indeed be very capable.

“Don’t talk about that!” hissed another member of the tribe.

“That is very sensitive,” shushed Odeh Khalaf Mouwasel, a member of a different tribe sharing the same tent.

Properly cautioned, Fayez continued: “We will be happy with whoever he chooses. In our eyes, everything he does is right. Even if it is wrong, we will see it as right.”

Across town, shopkeepers on busy Hashemite Street were far more concerned about a declining economy, which has cut their sales, and the kind of government corruption that raises their operating costs. Things have gone from bad to worse in the last six months, several said.

“Everything depends on the king himself,” said Amin Ayash, a Palestinian Jordanian who sells watches, colognes, lighters and other odds and ends. “If he is healthy, things go smoothly. When he gets sick, people get scared.”

Ayash said he hopes Hussein’s return will spur economic recovery and, maybe, an easing of the “connections-are-everything” way of doing business.

The king is under growing pressure to tackle the very corruption and nepotism that have enabled him to rule this largely tribal, family-based society with relative stability and without some of the more brutal repressive tactics of other Arab patriarchs.

Hussein has been able to use a system of rewards and punishments as a tool to maintain control and the security of his regime; some Jordanians, however, believe that the system has escaped his control and that corruption now threatens to undermine the same stability he worked to cultivate.

“He knows the credibility of the political system is erratic,” said prominent Jordanian commentator Rami Khouri. “Many people are feeling angry about corruption and cronyism. He understands that more and more alienation from the political system is very dangerous. He has talked a lot about accountability but has not put the full force of his credibility behind it.”

Khouri and others said they believe that Hussein, his health adding urgency to the cause, will now address the issue.