King Hussein sent this letter to his brother, Crown Prince El Hassan, the Regent, from the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where he is undergoing treatment for lymphoma. In the letter, he stresses his support for and confidence in Crown Prince El Hassan, the Regent, and reasssures him that his health is continuing to improve. He warns of the "dangers that loom ahead " in the region if procrastination and shortsightedness continue to block the way toward a just and comprehensive peace. On the local level, His Majesty points to several recent incidents of negligence, emphasizing that those in positions of responsibility must be held accountable.

Your Royal Highness,

My brother Crown Prince El Hassan bin Talal, the Regent,

Greetings. I have just received your brief on the peace negotiations and I pray to God that He may guide all parties to the path of an honorable, just and lasting peace, now and before it is too late.

We pray that they realize the real dangers that loom ahead should procrastination and shortsightedness obstruct the vision of the broader picture, and prevent seeing the great dangers to all peoples, the sons of Abraham, may peace be upon him, and to the future generations and their right to a safe existence and a dignified life.

The road to peace, it should be realized, requires achieving mutual trust based on mutual respect among the negotiating parties, as well as an understanding of what responsibility means.

It should be understood that there are no winners nor losers in this equation, but a tragic loss for all and wasted opportunities of serious work, to achieve that which would win the blessing of God, if the status quo marked by shortsightedness and focusing on small issues as well as instilling despair over the desired peace prevails.

We will unequivocally continue to support with all our strength our brethren, the people of Palestine, until the just and lasting peace that we all seek is achieved.

We will utilize our relations with all those near and far in order to realize that objective. May God help them and us to do our utmost in this regard.

My beloved brother,

I am following with much appreciation all that you are doing in the service of our homeland and I support you and stand by you; my confidence in you unwavering and my hopes in you great.

I was really comforted by your action to set up an able and impartial commission to determine the responsibility for the contaminated water. I trust the problem will end soon, if it hasn’t ended already.

The important thing is that we realize that the provision of water, food, medicine and education in a safe and democratic environment is one of the main purposes of our life on all levels of government.

The recurring incidents of negligence, such as the near miss of two huge aircraft over Amman a few months ago, would have been a catastrophe that was avoided by God’s grace.

Some air traffic control officials had decided to leave their place of work to pray; almost causing a tragic and horrific catastrophe, not to mention that such behavior does not please God or man.

The measures taken against them were insignificant for fear of possible lawsuits that they may file and win against the government, an excuse that is worse than the sin itself.

Then comes the incident in the thermal station in Aqaba due to lack of maintenance and negligence.

Then the recent issue of water.

All these incidents make it imperative upon us to take proper action against every mistake and act of negligence and for us all, government leaders and people, to deal with issues with a high degree of transparency, enabling us to identify without hesitation areas of weakness and flaws.

We are awaiting the report of the commission to find out who was responsible for neglecting the water filters until they became defective and ineffective.

As the waters of Lake Tiberias are still waters, just like the water in our dams, and unlike the running water of the Yarmouk River, who is the party responsible for not bothering to examine the still water, which we use and will continue to use, and which requires more treatment and more technical procedures to ensure that it is clean when it reaches the people, because of the presence of algaes in it?

This is what we are anxiously awaiting to find out in order to take the appropriate action to deal with the situation once and for all, and to take the measures that will impress upon people in every position, that they must conscientiously perform their duties and that there is punishment and reward.

My dearest brother,

My treatment is progressing well, thank God, and in a manner with which all my physicians are pleased.

I was pleasantly surprised today that they permitted me to leave Mayo Clinic for Washington for a few days of rest before starting the second cycle of chemotherapy next Wednesday, God willing.

Their decision came as a result of the tangible improvement in my condition, and after the improvement of the blood count which expectedly went down after the first cycle of treatment as well as the accelerated progress towards normalcy.

However, I was advised to avoid public places to protect against infection before the blood count goes back to normal and before starting the new cycle of treatment.

My morale is high and may the Almighty God bless us all and bless Jordan and all Jordanians.

You are all in my thoughts and I am with you always and Almighty God is with us all.

Your brother,

Hussein