Euphoric homecoming for king as he returns from latest, longest, battle

King Hussein landed his private jet at Amman's old city airport precisely on schedule at three o'clock yesterday afternoon, although punctuality is not a habit with the royal Hashemites. But all his kingdom was waiting.

Wearing the traditional red-and-white checked kuffiyeh and a well-tailored blue suit, the king stepped firmly down the steps from his plane on to a red carpet while a muted 21-gun salute was fired off-stage.

He paused at a bright floral-patterned prayer rug and, in a moving moment, sanctified his arrival with a formal two-bow prayer, pressing his forehead to the good earth of his kingdom. A hush gripped the crowd assembled to greet him, breaking into a spattering of applause when he stood and moved on.

Standing to attention beneath a bright canopy edged in gold, the king listened while a red-coated army band played the national anthem. As their instruments sighed last chords, the honour flight of a dozen Royal Jordanian Airforce fighters, which had accompanied his aircraft on the last stage of his 41/2-hour journey from Britain, roared overhead.

The king was accompanied on his flight by Queen Noor, her eldest son, Prince Hamzah, and Princess Haya, the pretty and widely popular daughter of his former queen, Alia, who died in a helicopter accident more than two decades ago.

King Hussein was met at the airport by his brother, Crown Prince Hassan, who has acted as regent during the king's absence; his family, members of the Government and senior officials. Also on hand were the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, and the Emir of Qatar, who had flown in the afternoon.

Sheltered by a hangar, the king stood greeting well-wishers, shaking hands or embracing each person, exchanging cheerful remarks with many. Mr Arafat greeted the king twice, on the tarmac and in the hangar, repeatedly hugging the king warmly.

King Hussein and his party drove at brisk pace into the capital to a joyful reception by thousands of Jordanians, many of whom had been standing for hours along the route, braving icy wind, rain and sleet to welcome their monarch home after 61/2 months abroad enduring chemotherapy in the Mayo Clinic in the US for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer of the lymph glands.

The streets of Amman were hung with banners, buildings were draped with Jordanian flags, fairy lights flickered on trees and outlined buildings for Eid al-Fitr, the feast which ends the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and the king's homecoming.

Portraits of the king which mounted on cars grew limp and soggy as the vehicles circulated through the streets, hooting and honking in noisy celebration. They had been roving the streets since mid-morning, stopping at tents erected by the municipality at strategic locations along the King's route.

No one complained of the wet and cold, for this is the first rain Jordan has seen for a year. "He brought the rain with him," several people remarked.

Traditional long black tribal tents had also been set up by Bedouin, one of the pillars of the Hashemite monarchy. And in time-honoured fashion, the Bedouin sacrificed camels and sheep to vouchsafe the homecoming pilgrim and feed the multitude on the second day of the feast.