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Abdullah II of Jordan

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King Abdullah II
King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Image:Abdullah II of Jordan, 2007March07 (cropped).jpg
Abdullah II before speaking to the United States Congress, March 2007
Reign	February 7, 1999 - present
Born	January 30, 1962
	Amman, Jordan
Predecessor	Hussein bin Talal
Heir-Apparent	Prince Hussein
Consort	Rania Al-Yasin
Issue	Prince Hussein Princess Iman Princess Salma Prince Hashem
Royal House	Hashemite
Father	Hussein bin Talal
Mother	Muna al-Hussein

As-Sayyid Muhammad 'Abdu'llah II bin al-Hussein al Hashimi, King of Jordan (Arabic: عبد الله الثاني بن الحسين‎) (born January 30, 1962 in Amman, Jordan), is the current King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He has reigned since the death of his father, King Hussein bin Talal, on February 7, 1999. He is also claimed to be a 43rd-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.

Abdullah's parents are King Hussein and Princess Muna al-Hussein (born Antoinette (Toni) Avril Gardiner) [1], who was born in Chelmondiston, United Kingdom.

1 Education
2 Military career
3 Marriage and children
4 King of Jordan
5 Politics as King
- 5.1 Congress Speech
6 Human Rights Violations
7 Criticism
8 Successor
9 Nuclear plans for Jordan
10 Democracy in Jordan
11 Trivia
12 See also
13 External links

Education

As a young man, the king attended the Islamic Educational College in the Jordanian capital for his primary education, later attending St. Edmund's School (Hindhead) in Surrey, England. Abdullah subsequently attended Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy in the United States for his secondary education. After leaving Deerfield he attended Pembroke College, Oxford, to which he is reported to have donated a sum of money.

Military career

In 1980, he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom as a cadet. He joined the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) upon commission as a Second Lieutenant the following year. King Abdullah retains close links with the British Army and is the Colonel-in-Chief of The Light Dragoons, a tank regiment and the successor to the 13th/18th Royal Hussars.

He attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, where he completed an advanced studies and research program as a mid-career fellow in the Master of Science in Foreign Service program in 1987. He graduated from the Georgetown Leadership Seminar in that same year. His course work was quite similar to that of the formal MSFS degree, although he does not hold one.

Marriage and children

Abdullah is married to a Kuwait-born, Jordan-bred Palestinian, Rania Al-Yassin (now Queen Rania al-Abdullah), who is renowned for her philanthropic work. They have four children:

Royal Family of Jordan

Image:Coat of Jordan.png

Prince Hussein (born June 28, 1994)
Princess Iman (born September 27, 1996)
Princess Salma (born September 26, 2000)
Prince Hashem (born January 30, 2005)

King of Jordan

Image:Kingabdulla worldeconomicforum.jpg

King Abdullah II at the World Economic Forum.

Abdullah became king on February 7, 1999, upon the death of his father King Hussein. Hussein had recently named him Crown Prince on January 24, replacing Hussein's brother Hassan who had served many years in the position. The decision was not universally popular because Abdullah's mother, Antoinette Avril Gardiner (commonly referred to as Toni Avril Gardiner), was British by birth. The King's mixed Arab and European ancestry was a matter of contention for many.

Politics as King

Jordan's economy has improved under King Abdullah II, and he has been credited with increasing foreign investment, attending meetings between public and private sectors, and providing the foundation for Aqaba's free trade zone. As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth has doubled to 6% annually under King Abdullah's rule compared to the latter half of the 1990s.[2] In a recent article, by Arabian Business.com stated that the Jordan's economy surpass the US by $6.9bn compared to US at $4.9bn in 2006, with foreign investments from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and America. [3]

His speech at The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in September 2005 was entitled "Traditional Islam: The Path to Peace." While en route to the United States, King Abdullah met with Pope Benedict XVI to build on the relations that Jordan had established with Pope John Paul II, and to discuss ways in which Muslims and Christians can continue to work together for peace, tolerance, and coexistence. King Abdullah has shown more consistency on economic than political change, handpicking liberals and technocrats to implement market-oriented reforms while sticking to mostly center-right prime ministers to ensure that political opening is on a slower track to fit traditional forms of society.

During the eight years of reign, King Abdullah II has been working hard for the Middle East Peace Process, attending the Arab Summit in 2002, OIC conferences and having several summits with US, Israeli and Palestinian delegations to find a just solution for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. In domestic policies, the King on March 2, 2007 announced municipal elections in Jordan and in November 25, 2006 in his parliament address, told the parliament to work on reforms of the press and publication law. [4]

Congress Speech

In March 7, 2007, the King gave a historical speech lasting about 30 minutes to a U.S. joint congress meeting urging the U.S. to take action in finding a solution to the Middle East Conflict. [5] The speech was received by support from many Arabs, including Palestinians.^{[citation needed]}

Human Rights Violations

Human Rights Watch has issued many publications that denounce King Abdullah’s interior policies, particularly his views on torture and abuse.

Criticism

King Abdullah is often criticized for ruling with an autocratic style, imposing limitations on basic freedoms of speech, press, and the right to protest. Criticism of King Abdullah, the Hashemite family, and the government in general, is severely punishable typically by jail imprisonment under conditions that violate the major principles of U.N's Universal Declaration of Human Rights as shown from the reports of Human Rights Watch; While criticising Islam is merely punishable by short-term imprisonment and/or minimal fines. An illustration of this lies in the story of Jordan's first female Member of Parliament, Toujan al-Faisal.
The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, said that Israel's GOC Central Command leader of the Israeli army, Yair Naveh, predicted that King Abdullah would fall and that he would be Jordan's last king. It does not, however, provide the source of Naveh's information[6]. Afterwards, the Israeli general had to retract his statement, creating tension between the two countries. [7]. Later on March 2007, Ehud Olmert commented on the fragility of the Hashemite regime in Jordan by saying that: “Israel is worried a hasty American withdrawal from Iraq could topple the Hashemite regime in Jordan…” Jordan's spokesman Nasser Jawdeh replied by saying that: “These statements are rejected. The Israeli prime minister should worry about his political future before worrying about us."[8]
Los Angeles Times correspondent Borzou Daragahi, in an article published by his newspaper, cites Jordanian sources and other analysts expecting the same consequence as a result of King Abdullah's corrupt internal policies and abuses. His analysis was published in the Los Angeles Times [9]

Successor

On November 28, 2004, Abdullah removed the title of Crown Prince from his half-brother, Hamzah, (whom he had appointed on February 7, 1999, in accordance with their late father's wishes). In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he said, "Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to undertake." No successor to the title was named, but some analysts believe it probable that Abdullah intends to name his own son, Prince Hussein, to succeed him at some point in the future [10].

Nuclear plans for Jordan

On January 20 2007, King Abdullah revealed to Haaretz that Jordan has plans to develop nuclear power strictly for internal energy purposes[11]. But according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, his citizens are having difficulties obtaining drinking water and thus are skeptical of King Abdullah's plans for making Jordan a country capable of developing nuclear energy[12].

Democracy in Jordan

BBC international published an article titled "Jordan edging towards democracy", where King Abdullah expressed his intentions of making Jordan a democratic country. According to the article though, president George W. Bush "urged King Abdullah, a US ally, to take steps towards democracy after being questioned about alleged human rights abuse in Jordan at a Washington news conference"[13].

Trivia

Image:King Abdullah on Star Trek.jpg

Making a cameo appearance on Star Trek: Voyager

King Abdullah is an acknowledged fan of Star Trek. In 1995, while he was still Prince, he appeared as an extra in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Investigations" [14]. Abdullah's role was not given any speaking lines because he was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
After assuming the throne, the politically inexperienced king at the time nearly caused a regional crisis by labeling Iran as the sole cause of instability in the region, to which Iran replied that the "Shah and his cronies are back into politics" (in reference to the courting by his father King Hussein of the Shah).
King Abdullah plans to open a private boarding school in Jordan called King's Academy in 2007. The school is to be modeled upon Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, United States, the school which he attended during his teenage years.
His favorite off-duty activity is barbecuing in the palace garden, as stated by his wife in an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show.