Word: hassan
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...prospect of Hussein's nearing death was the stunning change in Jordan's royal succession. His demise under any circumstances would leave the world wondering how much more dangerous the Middle East might become without his moderation. But now his successor will not be the dutiful, seasoned Hassan, Hussein's 51-year-old brother, who has been Jordan's king-in-waiting for nearly 34 years. In the span of a few hours last week, Hussein sent Hassan an angry dismissal, accusing him of power grabbing, and installed his untested eldest son as heir to the Hashemite throne...
...Although Hassan was plainly galled by his brother's decision, he quickly affirmed his loyalty to the new heir. Abdullah, designated regent while his father struggles to overcome non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, pledged to Hussein to "follow in your footsteps." U.S. officials privately called him "a chip off the old block," and Israel reacted without alarm. Many analysts regard the leadership turmoil in Jordan as less worrisome than that in other Arab states, where aging Kings and Presidents may soon give way to unfamiliar new rulers. Jordan's transition, says Anthony Cordesman, a Washington-based Middle East scholar, is only...
...potent combination of Hassan's missteps and Hussein's obsession with his legacy put Abdullah in charge. In 1992, as the King recuperated from his first bout with cancer, he returned home ready to abdicate. Buoyed by a hero's welcome and upset by a slanderous whispering campaign against his American-born wife Queen Noor, for which he held Hassan's court responsible, he changed his mind...
Family tensions rose further over Hussein's insistence that one of his sons be designated to succeed Hassan. He was furious when Hassan said the matter should wait until he became King, leaving the door open to name his son Rashid. Just before Hussein was found to have cancer again last year, the King signaled that he favored Hamzah, 18, the eldest son of Queen Noor, to become second in line...
Then, undergoing treatment in the U.S. for the past six months, Hussein was stung by reports of intrigue and ambition back home. Princess Sarvath, Hassan's wife, was moving furniture around the palace. The King also seemed to blame her, palace sources say, for more rumors smearing Noor, like the tale that Noor was a Jew, even a relative of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. "When my fever was getting high," Hussein later said, "some people thought it was their chance...