JORDAN: MOURNING BEGINS AS LAST RESPECTS ARE PAID

(8 Feb 1999) English/Nat
There were incredibly emotional scenes in Jordan as the people of the desert kingdom paid their last respects to King Hussein.
Hundreds of thousands of Jordanians flocked to get a glimpse of their beloved leader as his coffin was taken on a procession through the streets of Amman.
More than a (M) million more attended rites held elsewhere - a remarkable turnout for a country of less than four (m) million.
Others choose to watch the funeral at home and mourn their late king in private.
Jordan has never witnessed such an outpouring of grief as it did on Monday.
A nation united in grief as it buried an adored monarch who had served as their only ruler across a half-century of war and then peace.
Some Jordanians spoke of losing their father, their son and their brother.
Others told of knowing no other leader.
Nearly all seemed desperate at losing a king that defined them as both a nation and a people.
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"We can't say anything except God bless his soul and that he was our inspiration and he'll always be."
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"Our heart is sad for him. We are all sad for him."
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"I lived in Saudi Arabia for 15 years and I always knew I had a king but when I came to Jordan I knew how precious he was and how God he was to his people and everybody.
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In the streets, the wail of Koranic verses hung in the air.
Extraordinary scenes of mourning were repeated again and again as the king's coffin was taken on a procession through the streets of Amman.
Jordanians openly wept as they knelt to pray.
An estimated 800-thousand people lined the route that ran from Bab el-Salaam, the king's palace, to Raghdan palace and then on to a mosque and the royal cemetery for burial.
Many Jordanians shouted "God is great!" as the procession route slowly passed by.
A 40-day period of mourning for the deceased king for the government has been decreed, with the mourning period for the royal family set at three months.
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