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King Abdullah II Biography

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King Abdullah II has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of his father, King Hussein I. As king, Abdullah has continued his father's policy of making Jordan a moderate voice in the Middle East, with ties to Arabs, Palestinians, and the West. Abdullah went to prep schools in England and America, then attended the Sandhurst Military Academy in England and began a career in the Jordanian army. He had become commander of all Jordanian special forces when his father, shortly before his death, named Abdullah to replace the presumptive heir, Hussein's brother Prince Hassan. Abdullah became king on 7 February 1999. He married Rania Al Yassin, now Queen Rania, in 1993. They have four children: Hussein (b. 1994), Iman (b. 1996), Salma (b. 2000), and Hashem (b. 2005).

Extra credit: Abdullah is the oldest son of King Hussein and his wife, Princess Muna Al Hussein... Abdullah's clan, the Hashemites, traces its family tree back to the prophet Muhammad. According to his official site, Abdullah's generation is the 43rd since Muhammad... Also according to the king's official site, "He is a qualified frogman, pilot and a free-fall parachutist"... Odd but true: Abdullah is a fan of Star Trek and made a cameo appearance on a 1995 episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager.

Blog posts mentioning King Abdullah II:

• Our 1000th Blog Post
• The Jeopardy Champion's Hard-Nosed True-Life Are-You-Ready-To-Run-For-President Quiz
• Live Long and Prosper, King