A Brave Soldier Who Fought for Peace

Michael Paterson

Almaty, Feb 8

(Specially for THE GLOBE)

�We announce the death of the most precious, the greatest of men� who God called to his side at 11:43 a.m.�, was the official announcement. Jordan�s King Hussein sadly lost his heroic seven month battle with lymph gland cancer on Sunday, only 3 days after returning home from a US hospital. For the last couple of days, accompanied at his beside by his American born wife, Queen Noor and other family, the leader�s frail body had been sustained only by a machine.

As is the Muslim custom, the King will be buried with his within 24 hours of death at the Hashemite burial ground in Amman - where his father and grandfather also rest. Monday�s funeral is expected to be attended by up to 40 heads of state and other international dignataries, led by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan. The United States will be represented by US President Bill Clinton, his wife Hillary, and former Presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford. Europe is expected to send German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac, Britain�s Prince Charles, and Spain�s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Even ailing Russian President Boris Yeltsin is rumored to be planning to lead a delegation, though there has been no confirmation.

The king�s death has left Jordanians in a state of shock, many have flocked public places weeping uncontollably. The flood of genuine mourning, not only from within Jordan, but all over the world, would seem out of proportion for an authoritarian leader of a small, resource poor, Arab country.

Before embarking for Jordan, US President Bill Clinton was quoted as saying, �Today, the world mourns the loss of one of its great leaders, King Hussein of Jordan. I mourn the loss of a partner and friend. He was a magnificent man, and like so many, I loved and admired him.�

British PM Tony Blair stated that Hussein�s achievements �will long be remembered here and around the world with fondness and gratitude.�

However, King Hussein was no ordinary leader. Assuming the throne at the tender age of 16, Hussein was destined to not only skillfully hold together an impoverished, divided nation for almost 50 years, but to play an important role in the relations of his powerful and dangerous neighbours. At the end of his reign, King Hussein was one of the most important players in the Middle Eastern peace process.

Ezer Weizman, President of Israel described Hussein as �a brave soldier who fought for peace.�

President Bill Clinton concurred. �With the aviator�s gift of seeing beyond the low-flying obstacles of hatred and mistrust that heartbreak and loss place in all our paths, he spent his life fighting for the dignified aspirations of his people and all Arab people� When peace finally comes to the Middle East, his name will be inscribed upon it. That day, King Hussein will smile on us one more time.�

Prince Hussein ibn Talal was born on November 14, 1935 to Prince Talal ibn Abdallah and Princess Zein al-Sharaf ibnt Jamal, eleven years before Jordan declaration of independence from Britain.

At the age of 15, Hussein was thrust into international politics when his grandfather was assassinated before his eyes by a young Palestinian nationalist. A year later, the sixteen year old Crown Prince was declared King of the Hashemite Kingdom, following his father Talal�s abdication due to poor mental health.

A young Hussein survived the first of many challenges to his regime only four years later, when an attempted coup by Nasserite army officers was thwarted. However, in the aftermath the King decided to ban all political parties.

The following year, the King began that it would be in the country�s best interest to pursue close ties with the Kingdom of Iraq in a �Hasserite Union.� But the federation was aborted following the assassination of King Faisal of Iraq, Hussein�s cousin.

The event which had the most profound impact on the geopolitics of the Middle East during the rest of the century came in June 1967 when Israeli troops captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six Day War. The defeat was to have severe consequences for Hussein. Not only did the King suffer the humiliating loss of important territory, but his small country was flooded by exodus of 400 000 Palestinian refugees.

Within three years, Jordan was faced by an insurrection the Palestinian guerillas. The violent clashes of �Black September� between the rebels and government troops left an estimated 3000 to 5000 dead. Although many of the defeated rebels fled to Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinian question would pre-occupy Hussein for the rest of his reign.

Jordan retained nominal administrative links over West Bank Palestinians until 1974, when the King acknowledged a decision by Arab leaders proclaiming the Palestinian liberation Organization (PLO) as �sole representative� of the Palestinian people. In 1988, after the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada against Israeli rule, Hussein broke off all legal and administrative links with the West Bank to pave way for the creation of a Palestinian state. A series of cooperation accords signed during Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat�s visit to Amman in January of 1995, marked a new phase of rapproachment between Jordan and the Palestinians.

Hussein�s goal of peace in the region came a step closer when on October,26, 1994, Jordan became the second country after Egypt, to sign a peace treaty with Israel. The treaty finally put an end to the official state of war between the two countries which had lasted for 46 years.

Domestically, the King began to introduce some democratic reforms in 1989, following a series of violent protests against the high cost of living. In November of 1989, political parties were legalized and the first general legislative elections for 22 years were held.

For most of his reign, King Hussein was regarded in the West as a relative moderate. However, relations with the West were soured during the Gulf crisis of 1990-1991. Although Jordan denounced Iraq�s invasion of Kuwait, respectful of the passions of the Jordan�s large Palestinian population, King Hussein was reluctant to apply economic sanctions on Baghdad. As a result, the Jordanian economy was severely affected. Many Gulf states withdrew financial their financial support. Saudi Arabia alone provided 200 million dollars a year to Jordan�s coffers. Jordan�s economy has yet to fully recover. In August 1996, riots broke out in southern part of the country, provoked by the government�s decision to raise the price of bread.

Despite King Hussein�s many achievements, Jordan remains a poor, divided country. A peaceful future will depend upon the wise governing by Hussein�s children.

During Hussein�s four marriages, the King had a total of 11 children -five sons and six daughters. The oldest son, Abdallah was named heir to throne less than two weeks ago, after the King�s younger brother Hassan ibn Talal was dismissed from post which he had held for 34 years. Abdallah was named regent by cabinet on Saturday. The 37 year old heir to the throne of the Hahemite Kingdom of Jordan, has spent most of career serving in the army. And there is no question about Abdallah�s support in the army. Unfortunately, the future King has little experience in the murky world of politics and many analysts worry about his ability to cope with the Jordan�s difficult political and economic challenges.

�I think the track record of Jordan is more than enough to prove that this country is not only viable, but is a country that works. It�s a country that abides by its constitution, its laws and its institutions,� Abdallah stated yesterday.

307 art masterpieces on display at Milan�s Palais Royale

By Alessandro RAIMONDI

MILAN, Feb 7

(THE GLOBE)

One more hit at Milan�s Palazzo Reale, the historic building in the heart of the city hat the last administrators have appointed as the proper place to host art exhibitions and cultural events. �The sould and the face� is both of them: 307 masterpieces from Leonard to Francis Bacon, gathered together, not only to act as a provisional museum where people could enrich their art knowledge, but to ponder over the push that physiognomy has contributed on the development of the figurative art of the western civilization.

Over 100,000 visitors have enjoyed the fine display of paintings, drawings, sculptures, sketches and the like that span over a period of nearly 6 centuries, from Quattrocento to nawadays, since the exhibition opening on October 30th, �98. The number of such lucky ones, however, is due to increase since �The sould and the face, portrait and physiognomy from Leonard to Bacon�, this the full name of this art show, will last up to March 14th next.

The exhibition is a display of masterpieces, to put it with Flavio Caroli, its curator�s words, �on the evolution of the thought that mankind has nourished on its being in this world, on its grandeur and its caducity�.

Divided into 6 sections, the multi-billion-dollar-art-treasure constituted by such masterpieces as Caravaggio�s �Narcissus� or Paul Gauguin�s �Woman of Tahiti�, is scattered over 21 rooms following a chronological order beginning with Leonard da Vinci�s time, the fifteenth century, and ending up with Francis Bacon (1909-1992) whose man is a concentrate of boundless inner complexity.

09/02/1945 - Was born Mia Farrow (Maria de Lourdes Villers) (actress: Peyton Place, Hannah and Her Sisters; ex-Mrs. Frank Sinatra; ex-Mrs. Woody Allen)

10/021863 - The fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane on this day. It became a flaming success...

10/02/1933 - Primo Carnera knocked out Ernie Schaaf in round 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was not a happy crowd on hand. The spectators were joined by the press at ringside who shouted, �Fake!� at the knockout. Schaaf died later as a result of that punch. Apparently, no fake.

10/02/1934 - The first imperforated, ungummed sheets of postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in New York City. Talk about inconvenience! One had to cut the stamps out of the sheet and then put some glue on the back to get it to stick on an envelope. Fortunately, the Postal Service changed this idea after many complaints, when letters, literally, gummed up the works...

10/02/1965 - A quote, often used later by others, was first stated by Hubert H. Humphrey who said, �The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.� Humphrey was a noted and beloved U.S. Senator from Minnesota and a Vice-President in the Lyndon Johnson administration. He ran for the Presidency but lost to Richard M. Nixon.

10/02/1890 - Was born Boris Pasternak (poet, writer: Doctor Zhivago)

11/02/1861 - President-elect Abraham Lincoln and his wife left Springfield, IL by train for Washington, D.C. About 400 miles into the trip, Mary Lincoln reportedly turned to the new President and said, �Did you lock the back door, Abe?� and �I think I left my make-up bag on the counter...� (Verification of these facts is pending.)

11/02/1943 - General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe. The General�s efforts in World War II made him so popular that he was elected President of the United States less than a decade later.

11/02/1958 - Ruth Carol Taylor was the first black woman to become a stewardess (now, �flight attendant�) by making her initial flight this day on Mohawk Airlines from Ithaca, NY to New York City.

The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by investigators at a major US research university. The element, tentatively, named �ADMINISTRATIUM�, appears to be very closely related to BUREAUCRATIUM - a known deadly poison.. �

�ADMINISTRATIUM� has no protons or electrons and thus has anatomic number of O.

Upon initial inspection, however, it does have:

- one neutron,

- 125 assistant neutrons,

- 75 vice neutrons and

- 111 assistant vice neutrons, which together gives it an atomic mass of 312.

PROPERTIES

* These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called MORONS.

* It is also surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called PEONS.

PROPERTIES

Since it has no electrons, administratium is inert.

However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with.

According to the discoverers, a minute amount of administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would have normally occurred in less than a second.

Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately THREE YEARS, at which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. Some studies have shown that the atomic mass actually INCREASES after each reorganization.

OCCURRENCES

Research at other laboratories indicates that administratium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain points such as government agencies, large corporations, and universities. It can usually be found in the newest, best appointed, and best maintained buildings.

Scientists point out that administratium is known to be toxic at any level of concentration and can easily destroy any productive reaction where it is allowed to accumulate.