Jordan enters a new era

The designation by (Jordan's King) Hussein of his first-born Abdullah as heir to the throne has placed Jordan, founded in 1922, on the threshold of a new era. In this way the monarch has put an end to an interim situation that posed grave problems for the future of a country that is key to the Middle East.

Jordan, with 13 communities, among them the Palestinians, who are in majority, and three religions, continues to be a powder keg but the succession in the Jordanian monarchy is the guarantee for continuity.

-- La Vanguardia, Barcelona, Spain