Word: bedouin
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Undulating across the stage, eight shapely young ballerinas mimicked the sensuous rhythms of a belly dance. Portraying Bedouin tribesmen, a chorus of 150 men sang a lusty hymn to Allah. At sunrise, the wailing voice of the muezzin filled the concert hall, summoning the faithful to prayer. "O lonely night, last forever," crooned a tenor, looking across the moonlit sands. "You've made me learn to live and love...
...unsavory rumors have sprung up about the King's financial dealings and his personal life. True or not, most Jordanians believe them. Undermined by such rumors and his inability to recover the lost lands or cope with Israeli reprisals, Hussein's support among the once fanatically loyal Bedouin tribesmen is diminishing. Many idealistic junior army officers have turned away, and he is having a hard time getting men to serve in his Cabinet. Candidates want either more power than the King is willing to yield them or a share of the reported spoils...
...armies. The battlefields were littered with arms, and for two weeks, El Fatah teams took camels into the Sinai desert to collect machine guns, rifles, grenades and bazookas before the Israeli salvage squads. Four heavy trucks were found in Golan, along with two tons of ammunition and weapons. A Bedouin offered to sell 150 Kalashnikov rifles for $140. El Fatah gave him twice as much. Another Bedouin found a Syrian helicopter and built a tent to hide it for the El Fatah men. But when they arrived, they had no helicopter pilot along, so the craft was destroyed. A cache...
Jordanians have long expected Hussein to crack down on the fedayeen, who stand in the way of any hope of a settlement with Israel. Two weeks ago, residents of Jordan's capital of Amman awakened to the sound of gunfire. Loyal Bedouin soldiers clapped a tight curfew on the city and rounded up members of Kataeb al Nasr ("phalanx of victory"), a shadowy group on the fringe of the fedayeen movement. Tensions ran high between the Bedouins and the dispossessed Palestinians who now make up a restless majority of Jordan's population. When Bedouins also attacked a training...
Hussein insisted on maintaining his authority. The fedayeen demanded an end to the curfew, and freedom of movement. The standoff came to an end when Sheik Akif al-Faiz, Minister of Communications and leader of the largest Bedouin tribe, threatened to withdraw his support if the king used Bedouin troops against the fedayeen. Hussein, under pressure as well from Saudi Arabia, which subsidizes Jordan's budget, promised to lift the curfew and to allow the fedayeen to keep their arms. In turn, they promised to keep their armed men off the streets of Amman...