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8 February 1999

This morning, the President of the fifty-third session issued a statement on the death of His Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan. It reads as follows:

"I was deeply aggrieved by the sad news of the passing of His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan, a tireless leader in the search for peace and stability in the Middle East and the statesman of enormous stature and respect. My heartfelt condolences go to the members of His Majesty's family and to the people of Jordan."

This afternoon, the Assembly will hold a special meeting to pay tribute to the late King of Jordan. The President of the General Assembly, representatives of the regional groups, the representatives of the host country and of Jordan are all expected to address the Assembly. The text of President's remarks at the meeting will be issued as a press release in English and in Spanish. The Assembly will resume the tenth emergency special session on "Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian Territory" tomorrow afternoon.

This morning, the President is chairing the first meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council. Since his return to New York last week, he has continued consultations with a number of delegations and groups of Member States on various aspects of the work of the Open-Ended Working Group.

This afternoon, the President will make a statement at the opening of the second session of the Ad-Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Financing for Development, established under the terms of resolution 52/179 of 18 December 1997. The text of his statement will be issued as a press release in English and in Spanish.