Death and state funeral of King Hussein


The state funeral of King Hussein took place in Amman on 8 February 1999. He was pronounced dead on 7 February 1999 at 11:43 am. The funeral was the largest gathering of royalty and world leaders since 1995.

Illness

It was made public that King Hussein was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in July 1998. Hussein's lymphoma was of a type that responded to chemotherapy, which the King had already begun and his physicians were optimistic he could be cured.
On his way back to Jordan in January 1999 after six months of treatment in the US, Hussein stopped in London. Doctors advised him to rest and stay in England for a few weeks, as he was still too fragile to travel. According to Jordanian government sources, Hussein stated that:
Upon returning to Jordan, Hussein was greeted by family members, ministers, parliament members, foreign dignitaries and a crowd of Jordanian citizens, estimated by Jordanian government officials of 2 million. He spent just six days in Jordan, before being rushed back to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on 25 January 1999, after a relapse. He abruptly returned for further treatment undergoing a failed bone marrow transplant.

Death

Doctors at his US clinic said that the king suffered internal organ failure following an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant, "The king is in agony. He is being kept alive by artificial means. There is no more hope," an official told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The king had returned home critically ill after the failure of his latest cancer treatment. Upon arrival he was immediately taken by helicopter to an intensive care unit at the King Hussein Medical Center, west of Amman. He was later reported to be in a coma and on a life support machine after his organs failed. Outside the King Hussein Medical Center, wails of grief rose up in a crowd of Jordanians who had maintained a vigil there since the king's return. Men wearing the Keffiyeh checkered headdresses favored by Jordanians wrapped their scarves across their faces in a sign of mourning.
The palace sources said King Hussein's family had decided not to switch off his life support machine, preferring to let him die naturally. Jordanian television said in a news bulletin on Friday night that King Hussein was still under intensive care. The TV announcers are wearing black and the station is broadcasting programmes about the king's life.
King Hussein's heart stopped on 7 February 1999 at 11:43 am. Queen Noor and four of his five sons were at his side. His eldest son, Abdullah, who was recently named Crown Prince on 24 January 1999, was called to the hospital and, after his arrival, the king was removed from the respirator and pronounced dead.
The death of King Hussein was announced in the local Arabic TV by a presenter "Believing in God's will and with deep sorrow, the cabinet tells the Jordanian people and all our brothers in the Muslim world, and all our friends around the world, of the death of the dearest among men, His Hashemite Majesty, King Hussein Bin Talal the Great, king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, dean of the House of the Prophet, whom God has chosen to be next to him and who passed to heaven at 11:43. The cabinet asks that God will be compassionate with His Majesty and that He will give him a place among those He loves. Verily we belong to God, and to God we return.

Throne succession

A few hours after Hussein's death was announced, Abdullah went before a hastily called session of the National Assembly. Wearing a traditional red-and-white-checked Keffiyeh, a stoic Abdullah strode into the chamber to subdued applause from senators and congressmen, some of whom wept. King Hussein's two siblings, Prince Hassan and ailing older brother Prince Mohammed, preceded Abdullah. The heir stood straight in front of a portrait of Hussein, hands tightly clenched at his sides in an at-attention salute that drew more applause.
King Abdullah II then recited the oath his father took nearly five decades earlier; "I swear by Almighty God to uphold the constitution and be faithful to the nation".
Zaid al-Rifai, speaker of the House of Notables, opened the session with Al-Fatiha, a prayer for the dead. his voice cracked with emotion as he led the recitation. "God save his majesty," "God give him advice and take care of him."

Funeral

The flag-draped coffin carrying the body of King Hussein accompanied by honor guard troops wearing Keffiyeh were taken on a 90-minute procession through the streets of the capital city of Amman. An estimated 800,000 Jordanians, many of them weeping, braved chilly winds to bid their leader farewell. Riot police were stationed along the nine-mile-long route to try to hold back the crowds who scrambled for a glimpse of the coffin.
Upon arrival at Raghadan Palace, the new king, Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah, and the royal princes formally received the coffin. Queen Noor stood in a doorway surrounded by other royal women dressed in mourning black with white scarves.
In a courtyard of Raghdan Palace, so many leaders and dignitaries flocked to Jordan to pay their last respects, Inside, where the late king lay in state, surrounded by four Circassian guards in lamb's wool hats and black coats, the dignitaries entered the room one by one to pause before his coffin, each according to his traditions. Bagpipes played as the casket was taken from the palace to a mosque on an artillery carriage. A riderless white stallion with a pair of empty boots reversed in its stirrups favored by the king trotted behind. Prayers at the mosque were attended only by Muslims, while many of the world leaders waited outside. At the royal cemetery beneath a green canopy, Hussein's body, dressed in a simple white shroud, was removed from the coffin and placed in a grave near those of King Hussein's father, Talal, and his grandfather, Abdullah I. The new king carefully laid his father's face to one side in rest and passages from the Quran were read. Finally trumpets sounded the Last Post and a military bugler played. Attending guards fired a salute. The new king kept a stern face, although relatives around him wept. Queen Noor watched from the gates of the cemetery as the king was buried.
On the date of his death on 7 February 1999, King Hussein was the longest-serving executive head of state in the world.

Dignitaries

Hundreds of dignitaries attended the funeral in the largest gathering of world leaders since the 1995 funeral of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. At least 80 past and present heads of state were presented, as well as about 100 governmental representatives and some multilateral leaders. 5 organizations and more than 70 countries were represented.
American president Bill Clinton represented the country along with former presidents George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Also presented was the president of the Arab League, Samir Hosny. Hamas was present with a delegation of several representatives, led by its leader, Khalid Meshaal. The Czech president Václav Havel and the Russian president Boris Yeltsin, attended despite being unwell. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his wife Nane Maria Annan and UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura attended the funeral along with many of their colleagues such as European Union's Jacques Santer, NATO’s Javier Solana, IMF’s Michel Camdessus and African Union's Salim Ahmed Salim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led the country’s delegation, including Chief Rabbi Yesrael Lau and a representative of the families of seven teenage girls killed by a Jordanian soldier in 1997. Egypt was represented by leading political figures, including Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and prime minister Kamal Ganzouri.
The funeral also brought together enemies, including the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Nayef Hawatmeh, who approached the Israeli president Ezer Weizman, praised him as a man of peace and shook his hand. It was the first time that Syrian president Hafez al-Assad and Benjamin Netanyahu were together in same place, though they did not meet.
Other dignitaries included: Iraqi vice-president Taha Marouf, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, King Albert II of Belgium, Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, Ahmed Abdel Megid, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, William Hague, British prime minister Tony Blair and his predecessors Margaret Thatcher and John Major, Paddy Ashdown, Indian vice president Krishan Kant, Israel politicians Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Shamir, Leah Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak, Yitzhak Mordechai, Efraim Halevy, Salah Tarif, Sheikh Mowafak Tarif, Yisrael Meir Lau, Taleb el-Sana, Abdulmalik Dehamshe, Ahmad Tibi, Liamine Zéroual, Austrian president Thomas Klestil, Bulgaria deputy premier Veselin Metodiev, Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien and foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, Bosnian president Haris Silajdžić, Cypriot president Glafcos Klerides, Ioannis Kasoulidis, Prince Henrik of Denmark and prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Aga Khan IV, French president Jacques Chirac, Bernard Kouchner, German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Greek president Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, King Constantine II of Greece, Irish president Mary McAleese, Michael Woods, Crown Prince Jasim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, Italian president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, Japanese prime minister Keizō Obuchi, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Michel Murr, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, Liechtenstein prime minister Otmar Hasler, Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte of Luxembourg, Jacques Poos, Maltese president Guido de Marco, Hamed Karoui, Sultan Qaboos of Oman, Yusuf bin Alawi, Badr Al Busaidi, Farouk al-Sharaa, Abdul Halim Khaddam, Yaser Arafat, Palestine leader Mahmoud Abbas, Ahmed Qurei, Yasser Abed Rabbo, Khaled Mashal, Sudan president Omar al-Bashir, Mustafa Osman, Ghazi Al Atabani, Lam Akol, Swar Al Dahab, Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, Rwandese president Paul Kagame, Hans van den Broek, Igor Ivanov, Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Felipe, Prince of Asturias, Infanta Elena of Spain, Infanta Cristina of Spain, Spanish premier Jose Maria Aznar, Ali Saleh, World Bank president James Wolfensohn, Crown Prince Mohammed of Morocco, Ben Gilman, David Bonior, Ted Stevens, Patrick Leahy, Sandy Berger, Dennis Ross, Thomas Pickering, Martin Indyk, Najeeb Halaby, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Turkish president Süleyman Demirel, İsmail Cem, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai, Mohammad bin Zayed, Abdullah bin Zayed, Mohammed Bin Kharbash, Netherlands prime minister Wim Kok, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Polish prime minister Bronisław Geremek, Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, Romania president Emil Constantinescu, Andrei Pleşu, Switzerland president Adolf Ogi, Montenegro president Momir Bulatović, South Korean prime minister Kim Jong-pil, North Korean prime minister Kim Yong Nam, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, Queen Anak Saleha of Brunei, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei, Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Abdul-Aziz bin Abdullah, Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada and Ermias Sahle Selassie, King Harald V of Norway, Jason Hu, Vartan Oskanian, Singaporean prime minister Goh Chok Tong, Nigeria prime minister Abdulsalami Abubakar, Cheikh El Avia, Jackie Stewart, South African president Nelson Mandela and many other leaders.
Upon her arrival, Queen Sofia of Spain discovered that as a woman, she could not attend the funeral itself. Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, also could not attend. They were treated as pilgrim travelers, waiting outside of the venue. An exception was made for female heads of state, including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and President Mary McAleese of Ireland.

Officials and guests

As noted above, King Hussein’s funeral was attended by many foreigners. It was the largest gathering of international leaders in Jordan’s and Middle East’s history, with officials from more than 125 countries attended the event. The dignitaries included 101 heads of state and government and 15 former leaders.
Current leaders included :
Former leaders included:
Unofficial delegates included:
The UN General Assembly held an Emergency Special Session in "Tribute to the Memory of His Majesty the King of Jordan" on the same day.
Tenth Emergency Special Session

11th plenary meeting

Monday, 8 February 1999, 3.30 p.m.

New York

[Didier Opertti] (Uruguay) - President

On behalf of the group of African states
On behalf of the Group of Asian States
On behalf of the Group of Eastern European
On behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group
On behalf of the Group of Western European and Other States
On behalf of the Arab Group