Jordan's Hussein: A Survivor In The Desert Cauldron -- King Marks 40Th Year On Throne

AMMAN, Jordan - King Hussein, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, marks his 40th year on the Hashemite throne today, a unique survivor of Middle East tempests.

The 58-year-old monarch's longevity in the cutthroat politics of the region is remarkable. When he was crowned on his 18th birthday - May 2, 1953 - the boy-king of an impoverished desert state, few believed he would last long in the Middle Eastern cauldron.

He has survived countless assassination attempts, a Palestinian attempt to oust him, Arab-Israeli wars and political confrontations.

When Hussein returned last September from the United States after surgery for cancer, more than 1 million people, a quarter of the population, packed Amman's streets in an ecstatic welcome.

The king's illness has raised nagging doubts about his health and with it the future of the Hashemite dynasty and Jordan's hard-won stability.

Hussein himself has raised intimations of his own mortality. But in an exclusive AP interview on Thursday, he appeared in good health, if slightly weary after a hectic day of meetings. He still smokes.

Sitting in an ornate, chandeliered audience room in the Basman palace, its sandstone walls blinding white in the spring sunshine, the compact, wiry king looked back on his turbulent reign with his usual disconcerting habit of calling his interviewers "sir."

"There have been many happy memories, and many sad and terrible, tragic ones," he said.

WIFE DIES IN CRASH

Among them the death of Queen Alia, third of his four wives, in a helicopter crash in 1977 and his decision to join Egypt in a disastrous military alliance only days before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war broke out.

That cost him the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the city that is a potent religious symbol for his monarchy and for his dynasty that traces its line back to Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.

"I've never taken any decision without giving it as much of the thought that was available at the time," he said. "And so, given the circumstances, I couldn't have reversed anything.

"The sadness comes from crises that affected this region, where one could see a disaster in the making but lacked the ability to influence matters in a way that could have prevented them happening time and again."

These days, in a rapidly changing world order, he foresees upheaval if the peace talks with Israel fail and if Arab states do not move toward democracy, respect for human rights and tackle the problems of mushrooming populations, dwindling resources and widespread poverty.

With an almost missionary zeal, he has launched a program of democratic reform in Jordan which he hopes will serve as a model for other countries in a region where political pluralism is in little evidence.

"The greatest achievement in these 40 years that we have lived through, through all the setbacks . . . is the last four years . . . and our return to democracy and parliamentary life," the king said.

"I think we've taken the right steps to lay firm foundations for the future . . . and maybe transform Jordan into a beacon of hope in the region.

"Others still look at us with suspicion and regard this as a luxury they cannot afford. But without this, the Arabs will remain a broken people," Hussein said.

The British-educated Hussein inherited a kingdom arbitrarily summoned into existence from the wilderness between Saudi Arabia and Palestine by the British in 1921 for his grandfather Abdullah.

Abdullah was a leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I.

When Hussein succeeded his father Talal, who abdicated in 1952 because of mental illness, British-supported Jordan was the last remnant of the old order in the Middle East, ringed by states that were hostile at that time - Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Israel.

MATURED QUICKLY

But Hussein, by necessity, matured quickly and developed the political dexterity he needed to stay in power.

He survived assassination attempts and coup plots - including poison in his nose drops - several Arab-Israeli conflicts and a 1970-71 war against the Palestinians who challenged the monarchy.

His first brush with death came when he was 16. His revered grandfather, King Abdullah, was assassinated by a Palestinian gunman outside the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on July 20, 1951, after he had annexed the West Bank, part of historic Palestine.

After slaying the king, the assassin fired a shot at Hussein. The bullet ricocheted off a medal he wore over his heart.

It was a traumatic introduction to the bloody realities of political life in the Middle East, where changes of government invariably came through assassinations or coups.

But by his own admission, "the narrowest escape from death I have ever had," happened Nov. 11, 1958.

Two Syrian MiG-17 fighters intercepted Hussein's plane as he flew to Switzerland for a holiday. The British pilot, his longtime friend Wing Commander Jock Dalgliesh, dived to ground level and outflew the jets.

Hussein has always trod his own path, usually to the dismay, and often hostility, of others.

As the man in the middle of the Arab-Israeli conflict, he could do nothing else.

His refusal to join the U.S.-led coalition against Saddam Hussein after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, favoring diplomacy over military action, left him dangerously isolated internationally.

By contrast, it made him a hero in the eyes of his people.

--------------------------------------- COUPS AND MURDER PLOTS ---------------------------------------

Some of the coup and assassination attempts that King Hussein has survived during his 40 years on the throne:

-- July 20, 1951: Hussein, 16, escaped when grandfather King Abdullah was assassinated in Jerusalem. Medal on Hussein's chest deflected bullet that would have hit him in the heart.

-- April 1955: Unknown gunmen rake king's limousine near Amman. He had routinely switched cars moments earlier.

-- Nov. 10, 1958: Syrian MiG fighters intercept aircraft king was flying in to Switzerland. The British pilot, longtime friend Jock Dalgliesh, outflies them.

-- March 30, 1960: Jordanian intelligence uncovers Syrian-backed plot to shoot Hussein.

-- June 1960: King foils coup attempt by Brig. Adib Kassem to overthrow government.

-- July 27, 1960: Pro-Syrian army Col. Kassem Nasser and Baathists plant bomb in prime ministry before Cabinet meeting headed by Hussein. Secret Service foils plot.

-- April 1961: Royal chef Ahmed Nana poisons Hussein's food but plot uncovered when seven cats found dead in palace. Nana confessed he was Syrian agent.

-- April 1962: Egyptian housekeeper, apparently recruited by Syrians and Egyptians, injects acid into nose drops Hussein uses for treating sinusitis. Accidental drip burned floor and alerted king.

-- May 30, 1967: Israeli warplanes strafe king's palace during Arab-Israeli war, but he was not harmed.

-- Sept. 11, 1970: During civil war between king and Palestinians, guerrillas ambush Hussein's motorcade west of Amman. King escapes.

-- Nov. 6, 1972: Pro-Syrian agents arrested as they cross border in plot to topple government.

-- Sept. 9, 1981: During royal vacation in Madrid, Spanish and Jordanian guards crush attack by Syria-based dissidents.

-- July 1984: Authorities seize a pro-Libyan Jordanian armed with rocket launcher who planned to shoot down Hussein's aircraft at Aqaba airport.

Associated Press