Jordan remembers King Hussein

AMMAN — Jordan today marks the 81st anniversary of the birth of His Majesty the late King Hussein.

On the occasion, His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday received cables from senior officials and officers, according to a Royal Court statement.

HRH Crown Prince Hussein also received similar cables on the occasion.

The officials paid tribute to King Hussein and his dedication to Jordanians and to building the country’s national institutions, which made it a model in the region and the world.

King Hussein died at the age of 63 on February 7, 1999, following a battle with cancer.

At the time of his death, King Hussein was the longest serving executive head of state in the world.

A direct descendant of Prophet Mohammad, King Hussein was born on November 14, 1935, as the eldest son of King Talal and Queen Zein Al Sharaf.

He studied at the Islamic Scientific College and then enrolled at Victoria College in Alexandria. In 1951, he entered Harrow College in England before receiving his military education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England, from which he graduated in 1953.

Hussein was proclaimed King of Jordan on August 11, 1952, and a Regency Council was appointed until his formal ascension to the Throne on May 2, 1953, when he assumed his constitutional powers after reaching the age of 18, according to the Islamic lunar calendar.

Throughout his five-decade rule, he worked to raise the living standards of his people, and during his reign the literacy rate rose dramatically.

He also sought to promote peace in the Middle East.

Enhancing joint Arab coordination was a priority for King Hussein, who believed that resolving outstanding issues and conflicts between Arab countries should be done through upholding the higher Arab interest and believing in the common destiny of the Arab nation.

To mark the occasion, the University of Jordan’s (UJ) Centre for Strategic Studies said in a statement that it will launch the “King Hussein Bin Talal Chair”, which aims at attracting researchers and scholars who seek to study the ideology of King Hussein and revive his memory among Jordanians in general and UJ students in particular.