by Tanya Willmer
AMMAN, Feb 8 (AFP)
King Hussein made his last journey through Amman�s black-flagged streets Monday to his final resting place in a state funeral uniting world leaders and sworn enemies with grief-stricken Jordanians.
Thousands of people lined the 20-kilometre (12-mile) procession route to catch a glimpse of their own world stateman and peacemaker after the king�s bereaved sons carried the coffin out of his private palace.
The casket, draped in the Jordanian flag, was placed atop an open-topped armoured car for the procession to the Hashemite burial ground. Mourners threw flowers as it passed.
Queen Noor and other female members of the royal palace, including six daughters from the king�s four marriages, stayed behind at the Bab al-Salam (gate of peace) palace in keeping with Islamic tradition.
Wearing white headscarves of mourning, they huddled together on the palace steps to bid farewell.
Around 40 world leaders including US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin were in Amman to pay their last respects to Hussein, who died on Sunday of cancer aged 63.
The funeral also brought together sworn enemies such as leaders from Iraq and the United States, as well as a strong Israeli presence and Arab leaders whose countries have no ties with the Jewish state.
Even Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, whose ties with Jordan have long been strained and peace negotiations with Israel frozen, was taking part in the funeral, the royal palace said.
But Iraq�s President Saddam Hussein was a notable absentee, sending a vice president in his place. With his country isolated, he has not travelled abroad since the 1991 Gulf War.
Yeltsin joined 14 other presidents to take part in the funeral, defying the advice of doctors not to travel abroad. European and Gulf royalty were also on hand in force as well as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Jordan has put its security forces on full alert for the biggest state funeral since the 1995 assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. The coffin was followed by three helicopters.
Thousands of police and soldiers lined the procession route, as Jordanians wept and prayed for their beloved king who has ruled Jordan for the past 46 years.
Elsewhere, the streets were almost deserted of ordinary people, the skies heavy with the threat of rain.
�Nation mourns King Hussein, Abdallah crowned King,� announced the English-language Jordan Times above a picture of a waving King Hussein, a thick black strip across one corner of the front page.
�The departure of the last giant of the century, the world cries for King Hussein,� said Al-Arab Al-Yawm.
King Hussein was to be laid to rest alongside his father and grandfather at the Hashemite burial ground.
The motorcade was headed for the Raghadan palace complex where eight soldiers were to move King Hussein�s body into the throne room and point it in the direction of Mecca, the birthplace of Islam.
The new King Abdallah, sworn in hours after his father�s death, was to pay his last respects and lead prayers at Hamzeh ibn Abdel Mutallib Mosque in the palace grounds.
Soldiers were to carry the coffin to the burial ground. A 15-gun salute was to be fired and a lone bugler was to play �The Last Post� as the body, covered by a simple white shroud, was lowered into the ground.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egypt�s President Hosni Mubarak were among the last to fly in, while Iraq was sending Vice President Taha Mohieddin Maaruf.
A large Israeli delegation was led by President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former premier Shimon Peres, a partner of King Hussein in the Middle East peace process, were also in Amman.
ALMATY, Feb 8 (THE GLOBE)
On 9 February the presentation of the National strategy for preservation and careful usage of the Kazakhstan�s biological diversity starts working in Astana. The proceeds of the presentation are facilitated by the UN financial and technical aid. Representatives of different ministries and committees of the Republic of Kazakhstan had taken part in the preparation of the event.
by Kianouche Dorranie
TEHRAN, Feb 7 (AFP)
Iran announced on Sunday that it is to test the motor for a new space rocket, just six months after the successful launch of a medium-range missile sparked concern in the United States and key regional ally Israel.
The test will be carried out by the armed forces on Tuesday, just two days before 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution which overthrew the pro-Western shah, Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani told a news conference here.
But he swiftly added that the rocket, dubbed the Shahab-4, �has no military use and will be not be produced on a large scale.�
Last July Iran successfully launched the Shahab-3 missile, with a range of 1,300 kilometres (800 miles), prompting acute fears in the United States and its main regional ally Israel which lies within the missile�s range.
�With the Shahab-3 we attained our objectives and have no need to manufacture missiles of similar range,� Admiral Shamkhani insisted.
�We have the right to have our own satellite and launcher,� he said, adding that Iran had achieved its �the deterrent capability it wanted with the Shahab-3 missile and had no need for new missile launchers of greater range.�
Shamkhani said that the Shahab-3, which is currently on display at an anniversary exhibition of military equipment at the capital�s international fair ground, had given Iran a �real deterrent punch.�
�Thanks to this deterrent punch, Israeli leaders have sharply reduced their threats and hostile language against Iran,� he said.
But Shamkhani went out of his way to stress that the missile was not meant as a deterrent against any other country in the region.
�Our missiles are no threat to any Islamic country - we made quite clear that the Shahab-3 would never be used against Moslem territory,� Shamkhani said.
The defence minister said that one test firing of the Shahab-4 rocket motor had already been carried out, but said it had not been a success because of a �mechanical problem.�
He insisted that the missiles had been developed entirely with Iranian technology, rejecting persistent reports that the programme was dependent on North Korean technology.
He did not specify the nature of the satellite Iran intended to put into space although late last month parliament approved a budget appropriation for the launch of telecommunications satellites.
MPs authorised up to 300 million dollars of foreign loans during the coming financial year starting March 21 to pay for the purchase and launch of a telecommunications satellite.
The borrowing was approved even though most other items of government expenditure were sharply cut as part of an austerity package intended to tackle a mounting economic crisis here sparked by a sharp fall in the price of Iran�s main export oil.
Throughout the past decade, Iran has been trying to develop its own telecommunications satellite.
Work started during the 1990s on a satellite dubbed the Zohreh, but technical and financial problems prevented completion of the project.
Gulbanu ABENOVA
ALMATY, Feb 8 (THE GLOBE)
�The first census of the population of Kazakhstan is scheduled on February 25 - March 4, 1999�, said first deputy chairman of the National Statistics Agency Yuri Shokamanov. The census will be performed by special officials appointed by regional akims. Every family is to be visited by an authorized person who will ask certain questions and fill in the census form.
�This census is going to cover all the available population�, said mr Shokamanov.
The census will start at 8:00 a.m. February 25 and last for eight days.
According to first deputy of the National Agency the program of the census meets the requirements of international organizations, UN Commission for Statistics included.
Sergey Matushinko
Almaty, Feb 8
(THE GLOBE)
�Justice bodies frankly ignore the political recommendations of the Head of the State,� as outlined in the President�s Appeal dated September 31, 1998 �On the situation in the country, and major objectives of external and internal policy: democratisation of the community, economic and political reform in the new century�, stated the president of the non-governmental association �Almatiy Juridical Corporation� in Almaty on February 8.
According to Mr. V. Voronov, for the time being the Management of the Ministry of Justice, its divisions and territorial subdivisions have frustrated the acting legislation many times.
Afterwards he submitted documents revealing that the justice bodies do not fulfil their legal incorporating obligations. In particular, the above documents revealed illegal refusal to incorporate Kostanai, Mangystau and Almaty non-governmental associations �Elections - 2000�, and the Republican National Party of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He reckons that the Ministry of Justice interferes with the rights and legal interests of juridical and natural persons. He mentioned the illegal transfer of the Justice Ministry�s authorities to the bodies of the National Committee for Security etc.
Mr. Voronov also showed his concern about the fact that such a situation could take place on the eve of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
�In order to provide genuinely free activity of associations of citizens, the Ministry of Justice should simplify the procedure of incorporation and supervision over the activity of Kazakh and foreign non-governmental organisations which want to operate in Kazakhstan and encourage the formation and active operation of such organisations�, said Mr. Voronov.
Translation - Insel Co. N.C.