Jordan Times
Monday, October 5, 1998
King, Queen receive Tarawneh
ROCHESTER (Petra) — Their Majesties King Hussein and Queen Noor received Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S.
The King, who is undergoing chemotherapy at the Minnesota hospital, reassured Tarawneh and the Jordanian people about his health and the progress of his treatment and asked the prime minister to convey his greetings to the Jordanian people.
His Majesty was briefed by Tarawneh, accompanied by Royal Court Chief Jawad Anani and Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib, on the government's programmes and plans, particularly those pertaining to implementing the directives in the Royal letter of designation.
Following the meeting, Tarawneh said the King was well and that treatment was progressing as scheduled.
“I had the honour of meeting His Majesty at the Mayo Clinic and, thank God, His Majesty's health is excellent and matters are going as we want them,” Tarawneh told Jordan Television's “On the other side” programme, hosted by Fahed Fanek.
“As usual, morale is high... and I just wanted to reassure the Jordanian people about His Majesty's health,” the prime minister told the live evening show.
“The treatment is progressing as we want it, and the [King's] meeting [with his people] will take place soon, as expected, God willing,” the prime minister said, adding that the meeting was a good opportunity for him to receive directives from the King on “a large number of issues, including government plans and... mechanisms aimed at implementing the Royal letter of designation and the Lower House of Parliament's discussions.” King Hussein also commended the government's efforts to ensure transparency, Tarawneh said.
The premier also said the King expressed satisfaction with such live programmes on JTV which discuss issues of interest to the public and allow public participation via the telephone.
His Majesty, Tarawneh said, follows matters on JTV as well as other television channels to keep informed of events in Jordan.