Thursday, August 1 1, 1977
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SPage Seven
Hussein marks 25th year
AMMAN, Jordan (AP)-King
Hussein of Jordan, once a boy
king on a shaky throne, cele-
brates his 25th anniversary to-
day as the Arab world's most
durable leader.
Silver jubilee festivities
throughout this desert kingdom
are marking the reign of the
king who has survived wars,
assassination attempts, personal
tragedy and predictions that he
could not last.
Hussein, then a 16-year-old
with courage and muscles but
little experience, was installed
Aug. 11, 1952 as ruler of the
Hashemite kingdom after his
grandfather, King Abdulla, was
assassinated.
No other ruler in the Arab
world has lasted as long.
Today, the 41-year-old, 5-foot,
4-inch Hussein seems firmly en-
trenched on his throne, has the
adulation of most of his subjects
and maintains good relations
with Arab neighbors who once
reviled and even tried to over-
throw him.
THE JORDANIAN monarch
is among the most Westernized
of Arab leaders - he chose Lon-
don for a month's postjubilee
vacation - and that orientation
and moderate political line have
earned him American and
British support at critical times.
Hussein, a normally buoyant
person with a playboy reputa-
tion, has suffered recent set-
backs that associates say left
him subdued. -
Last February, his wife of four
years, Queen Alya, died in a
helicopter crash. She was Hus-
sein's third wife. Palace observ-
ers say the marriage was very
close, and he was devastated
by the loss.
THE SAME MONTH, the mon-
archy was stung by press reve-
lations that Hussein had re-
ceived payments from the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency. He
insisted the payments were not
improper and merely constitu-
ted aid for military security.
The CIA link has fueled suspic-
ions among Arab enemies that
Hussein is an American "tool."
But insiders say the king has
solid support at home, especially
from the army, and that he is
determined to remain an active
ruler.
"One is struck at how tranquil
it all is," a Western diplomat
said.
IT IS NOT ALWAYS so tran-
quil. Hussein has survived five
known assassination attempts,
and another half-dozen aborted
coups.
Many of his subjects believe
Hussein, whom they revere as
a descendant of the Prophet
Mohammed, enjoys a "Baraka"
- blessing from God - because
of his repeated escapes from
death.
"I fear only God," the king
has said. "When he calls, I
am ready."
AT THE AGE of 15, Hussein
way praying with his grand-
father in the Al-Aqsa mosque
in Jerusalem when an assassin
opened fire. The king was killed,
and the story has it that Hus-
sein escaped death because a
bullet richocheted off a medal
on his chest.
Hussein's father became king
but soon was declared mentally
unfit. Hussein was proclaimed
monarch and, after a cram
course at Sandhurst military
academy in Britain, assumed
the throne.
Because of Jordan's reliance
on Western aid, the new mon-
arch was a target of revolution-
ary regimes in Egypt, Syria and
Iraq. Egyptian President Gamel
Abdel Nasser, who had turned
to Moscow for aid, repeatedly
labeled Hussein a "stooge of
American imperialism."
IN 1957, THE KING escaped
two bizarre assassination at-
tempts, one from poisoned nose
drops and another from a bomb
placed in the royal toilet. Jor-
danians claim both were sent
from Nasser.
After long animosity, Hussein
and Nasser signed a mutual de-
fense pact as an act of expedi-
ency in opposition to Israel. But
Israel rolled over the forces of
both Arab nations in the 1967
Six-Day war, and took the West
Bank of the Jordan River from
Jordan's control.
THE CONTINUED occupation
of the West Bank constitutes
Hussein's most pressing prob-
lem today. He calls himself a
"cautious optimist" about possi-
bilities for a peaceful settlement
of the issue.
The latest threat to Hussein
came from Palestinian guerril-
las, many of whom flooded into
the kingdom as refugees from
the 1967 war. In 1970 and 1971,
Hussein's Bedouin army fought
a bloody civil war with the
guerrillas and ousted them from
the country.
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HAD CANCER
AND I LIVED.
ANN AUiUiLU [IM 4C U-CIU
Thursday, August 11
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (1972)
7 & 10:20-AUD. A
Monty Python's Flying Circus is an English Tv program represent-
in-aBritish comedy at its outrageous best, and the first full-length
film based on it is no less hilarious. "The most outrageous, hilar-
ions, brilliant comedy since THE PRODUCERS."-women's wear
Daily.
MONTY PYTHON AND
THE HOLY GRAIL
(Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975) 8:45 ONLY-AUD. A
Monty Python's first film was so deliciously silly, en Anita Bryant
liked it. Now the lads of the Circus mess about with Kint Arthur
and the Knights of the Round Table. Sidesplittiin, vi-nal spoof of
chivalry, courtly love, In-mar Bergman, and the Hollywood epic.
ADMISSION: STILL ONLY $1.25 (SINGLE FEATURE)
$2.00 DOUBLE
m
Tonight at 7:00 & 9:00 Toninht at 7:00 & 9:00
Open 6:45 Open 6:45
-----Under 18 Not Admitted
I.D. Resuired
THE BAD NEWS
BREAKING
TRAININGa
* ~di AeCOL R A A tP
s
E. ENDS TONIGHT
"New York, New York"
(PG)
Phone +66264 7:00 & 9:35. Open 6:45
STARTS TOMORROW
BURT REYNOLDS and JACKIE GLEASON Hit the
Roads in the Freewheelin' Comedy Smash
A UNIVERSAL Picture - Technicolor® FP 4
GeneLittler
It's possible to go into an annual checkup feeling terrific.
And come out knowing something's wrong. It happened to
me. The doctor found what I couldn't even feel ... a little
lump under my arm. If I had put off the appointment for
,one reason or another, I probably wouldn't be here today.
Because that little lump I couldn't feel was a melanoma, a
highly aggressive form of cancer that spreads very quickly.
It's curable-but only if found in time.
So when I tell you, "bet a checkup," you know it's from
my heart. It can save your life. I know. It saved mine.
Havle a regular checkup.
It can save your life.
American Cancer Society.
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