Kings, emirs, sheikhs, sultans, prime ministers and presidents paid their last respects to King Hussein of Jordan at an emotional state funeral in Amman yesterday.
In keeping with Muslim traditions, King Hussein, who died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer, was finally buried in a family cemetery wrapped in a simple white sheet.
But no sooner was King Hussein buried than his successor, King Abdullah (37), ran into his first Middle Eastern political storm. Iran criticised the new monarch for comments given at a private briefing for American journalists.
The funeral could not have happened as it did in any other Arab capital. No other Arab country has fewer enemies than Jordan and as a result leaders from the region flooded the Jordanian capital with limousines and helicopters. Israeli Jews rubbed shoulders with Arabs from Syria and the Gulf.
The President of the United States was in close proximity to Mr Taha Ma'rouf, Vice-President of Iraq. The great and the good of the Arab world turned up to mourn the king.
In a rare trip abroad, President Hafez al-Assad of Syria postponed a referendum due to be held yesterday. President Boris Yeltsin of Russia defied doctors' orders to attend the funeral. President Clinton joined three former American presidents at the funeral ceremony.
In total, more than 50 world and regional leaders made the trip to the Jordanian capital. Speculation about secret meetings and private mediation sessions among and between the delegations was rife, although none was officially acknowledged.
The streets of Amman were covered in black flags as Jordanians showed their grief by throwing flowers on the funeral cortege as it passed by. Tens of thousands of people thronged the centre of the city to make their last farewell to a monarch Jordanians have come to love. Many were in a forgiving mood.
"I have come to bid farewell to my king and hero" said Mr Abu Hamid, a businessman, "and I am even prepared to allow the Jews to come. It is the way King Hussein would have wanted it and I think we should respect his wish."
There was universal support for the new King Abdullah on a day when Jordanians were united in grief. "He is in the image of his father and he will become a great leader of the Jordanians. His father gave him everything that he knew and he will become wise," said Andine, an 18-year old university student. Her father, Ramia, standing beside her in the bitter cold, concurred. "He has the look of his father. He engages you with his smile. He will be like his father", he said.
However, the king also ran into the first major public argument of his reign when Iran attacked the new ruler for remarks reportedly made before his enthronement. Iran sent a formal letter of protest after the Arabic newspaper, Al-Hayat, quoted the king as saying the Islamic republic "remains a threat to the security of certain Gulf countries". The foreign ministry registered a strong diplomatic protest and demanded a clarification of the reported comments.
Newspapers in Iran seized on the issue. Recalling what it described as King Hussein's "treachery to the Palestinian cause", the left wing daily newspaper, Salam, claimed that the late monarch indulged in "depraved evenings" with the Shah of Iran, reminding readers that Ayatollah Khomeini described King Hussein as a "repulsive person".
Members of the Israeli delegation were more generous to the memory of King Hussein. "We don't have a king. We adopted him as our king. It is sad to say goodbye to a wonderful king and person that we loved so much", said Mrs Leah Rabin, widow of the assassinated Israeli prime minister, Yitzak Rabin.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, described King Hussein as a "soldier for peace" and praised his patience and forbearance in helping to reach agreement during Israeli-Palestinian talks at Wye River Plantation last October. Asked why the agreement at Wye River has not been implemented, Mr Netanyahu pointed to the Palestinians as the cause and then dismissed such discussions as inappropriate in the context of King Hussein's death.
If Mr Netanyahu is re-elected as Prime Minister following elections due in May, King Abdullah will find himself dealing with one of the toughest negotiators in the region.