JORDAN: Signs of Improvement

When things are at their worst in Jordan, Samir Rifai is summoned. But when the desperate hours have passed, rival courtiers and politicians complain against the tough little Premier's hardfisted ways, and out he goes. Last week, buoyed by a two months' world tour, full of cheer and confidence, assured of the U.S.'s continued $50 million-a-year financial subsidy, young (23) King Hussein abruptly ended the fifth premiership in 15 years of his able but unpopular strongman. It was a sure sign that the King felt safely past the crisis created in Amman by last year's murder of his...

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