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Prince Hassan of Jordan has said he fears a third world war is erupting in the Middle East. Speaking to BBC's Radio Four, he said it was an "extremely depressing" time. Extremist voices in the region were rising, and not only individuals but states were taking the law into their own hands, the prince said. He was speaking after a week in which Israel assassinated the spritual leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 'Spillover fears' The prince said he feared the violence currently marking Israeli-Palestinian relations would spread to other countries in the region. "I'm afraid we'll...

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Prince Hassan's hope to visit Iraq soon is sparking fresh speculation the one-time heir to the Jordanian throne -- unceremoniously dumped by his dying brother after three decades of grooming -- is a prince in search of a kingdom. An aide to the prince denied the talk Monday, but such concerns have in the past forced Hassan's nephew, King Abdullah II, to insist Jordan's royal family has no designs on ruling neighboring Iraq. Last week, Hassan told Al-Arabiya satellite channel that he plans a visit to Baghdad "soon" to try to mediate political disputes among...

Jordan's Prince Hassan: future king of Iraq? Royal humanitarian may be answer to Bush's demand for regime change Peter Goodspeed National Post Thursday, October 10, 2002 Daniela Ciuffa, National Post Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, speaking in Winnipeg yesterday, is being touted as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. WINNIPEG - For 34 years he was a Crown Prince, who stood a heartbeat away from power and served as the closest advisor and confidant to his brother, the late King Hussein of Jordan. Now, as the world braces for war with Iraq, Prince El Hassan bin...

AMMAN, July 29 (AFP) - Jordan's state news agency Monday highlighted King Abdullah II's public rebuke to his uncle, Prince Hassan bin Talal, during an interview with the Times of London, in what amounted to the king's first open criticism of a member of the royal family. Petra reproduced Abdullah's remarks to the Times Monday concerning Hassan's attendence at a London meeting of Iraqi opposition two weeks ago. "Prince Hassan blundered into something he did not realise he was getting into and were all picking up the pieces," Abdullah told the Times. Abdullah and his uncle have enjoyed strained...

ONE of the more lively moments at last week's get-together of a group of Iraqi dissidents was when Prince Hassan, Jordan's elder statesman, strode into their London meeting-place. He then embraced a scion of King Feisal, his murdered cousin and the last king of Iraq. In conversation, Jordan's Hashemite prince spoke of “assuming his ancestral responsibilities” in the region, harking back to the first world war, when his great-grandfather was the British-appointed king of the Arabs, and his great-uncle the king of Iraq. A waft of Hashemite nostalgia was in the air. Courtiers reminded people that Spain, after Franco,...