Fears about the stability of Jordan have been exacerbated by a public rift between King Hussein, who has returned to the US where he had been treated for cancer, and his younger brother, Prince Hassan. The prince was abruptly removed as King Hussein's successor this week, having run the country during the king's lengthy absence at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
In a 14-page letter to Prince Hassan, designated successor in 1965, the 63-year-old king sharply criticised his brother's performance as regent, suggesting the prince's supporters within the palace - described by the king as "climbers" - had spread malicious gossip about his wife and children and tried to undermine his authority with the armed forces.
Before his departure for the US on Tuesday, King Hussein formally swore in his son and newly designated heir, Prince Abdullah, as regent during an airport ceremony. Crown Prince Abdullah (36), who received much of his education in the US and Britain, is an army major general and commands the Special Forces whose missions include protection of the royal family.
Though popular with the public, Prince Abdullah is little known outside Jordan and untested in the rough-and-tumble of Middle East politics. In a letter informing Jordanians that he was returning to the US, King Hussein acknowledged he perhaps came home too soon, before it was fully certain how his body would react to the six months of chemotherapy and the bone marrow transplant he underwent at the Mayo Clinic.
The letter from King Hussein to his brother was a rare public rebuke in a region where face-saving and dignity can be as important in politics as substance.
While thanking his brother for his "sincere efforts" over the 34 years that Prince Hassan waited for the throne, King Hussein also detailed the reasons he felt he had to replace him in the line of succession.
"I noticed at an early age how some climbers climb on to the branch to ruin the relation between brothers and between father and son," King Hussein wrote, in an apparent reference to his brother's aides and supporters. "I swore to myself that this would not happen here in my lifetime. But surely this has become the objective of every declared or hidden enemy."
The most substantive dispute apparently centred on the question of who would follow Prince Hassan as king if he were to inherit the throne - potentially pitting Prince Hassan's son against Prince Abdullah as well as King Hussein's other sons.
The king in his letter said he wanted a broader family council established to choose the crown prince. According to the king, Prince Hassan insisted on choosing his own successor.
The king also referred to alleged "meddling" with the Jordanian army. He was particularly incensed that questions had been raised during his absence about the source of money for a house built for his military chief of staff. The king said he paid for the house himself, so his top commander would have "something commensurate with his rank and position".
Corruption, and the distribution of perks, were issues Prince Hassan said he wanted to tackle as king.
In addition, King Hussein said he was upset about efforts to make changes in the country's ambassadorial staff while he was away, and also, apparently, about a rivalry developing between his wife, Queen Noor, and Prince Hassan's wife.
"That is why I returned to the homeland: to rectify matters as soon as possible and to assume my duties towards future generations," the king said.
Agencies report:
Jordanian dignitaries flocked to congratulate Prince Abdullah yesterday when he reviewed a Bedouin guard of honour at Amman's Raghadan Palace before receiving hundreds of well-wishers.
Mid-way through the ceremony Prince Hassan broke into the queue of dignitaries to offer his own good wishes. "May you be successful, God willing," a smiling Prince Hassan told the prince.
Yesterday the Mayo Clinic said King Hussein had suffered a "relapse of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma" and was being treated for it.
"His majesty is in stable condition," a hospital statement said.