Interview with His Majesty King Abdullah II

Andria Hall, CNN anchor: Syria's Bashar Assad appears to be about to join a growing group of young leaders in the Arab world. This new generation leads in Morocco, Bahrain and Jordan. CNN's Jane Arraf sat down with Jordan's King Abdullah to talk about what the world can expect from the younger Assad, whom he calls his friend.

King Abdullah: What struck me was their willingness to keep the door open on the peace process and the desire of the president to try and find means and ways of getting the negotiations between them and the Israelis open again. And I thought that was a very positive reflection and a positive surprise when I visited him three weeks ago. And this is the type of message that we've taken to the United States and to our friends in the region.

CNN: Hardly anyone knows his son Bashar, who is set to take over, but you've spent probably more time with him in the last few months than any head of state, certainly. What kind of person is he?

King Abdullah: He is a very intelligent, very impressive person. He drove me around Latakia, and we drove in a car, just the two of us, for about four and a half hours. And it was a terrific time just to spend the two of us, talking about our difficulties and problems and our fears for the future.

Here is a man that has a great understanding of the region, a very good understanding of the international community. He has a tremendous desire to get his economy up and running, to open his country up. And I think you'll see a lot of pleasant surprises from him in the future.

I think that we will get to the type of Middle East that we want. Obviously, I think the most difficult problem in front of my friend Bashar at this stage is that he has a lot to contend with. Obviously, we have to give him as much support as possible. He will be looking to reassure his people, to give them confidence, to try and identify what are the problems facing his country.

And I would imagine there're a lot of parallels between what he's going through and what we went through with the tragic loss of His Majesty a year and a half ago. And I presume a lot of it will do with the economy. So I think that all of us have to be very understanding at this stage that Bashar will be looking at trying to give his people the sense of security that they need, to try and get the economy up and running and moving in the right direction. So we need to be very careful about pressuring him to move on a peace process.

I think he's willing and open-minded. It's something that his father started and I think it's something that he will pursue but he has a 40-day mourning period, and he will be looking at identifying the problems in his country and giving his people reassurance. So I hope that we are a bit patient with him.

CNN: Does that mean that he would have to concentrate, on your view, in solidifying his power before he can address the peace process?

King Abdullah: Well, I think that, practically, I think that he has to give people confidence in his leadership, which I have no doubt that he will impress everybody in doing so. As we had to look at a year and a half ago, we had to look inside. We had to give people assurances. We had to make people feel confident, identify what the problems were. And our problem was the economy. And I think there're a lot of parallels in Syria.

So identifying the priorities of concern to the Syrian man on the street is, I think, the most important thing in his mind. And at the same time, when he has the time to, be able to look externally, then the peace process will be one of the things he will look at.

CNN: And how smooth do you think that transition will be in Syria?

King Abdullah: I think it will be extremely smooth. If we look at the speed of the process yesterday, it obviously shows us in the region that Bashar is in a very strong position. He has the confidence of all the important circles in the Syrian hierarchy.

And, as I said, he's a talented, bright man, and I think there will be a breath of fresh air.

CNN: What can we expect from this new generation of leaders in the Middle East?

King Abdullah: Well, as we've seen in Morocco and in Bahrain, I think that there is a move to get our countries into the global economy. This is something that Bashar understands very well. And I think that our countries are all beginning to open up, to understand the way the world is moving, and more importantly, trying to get our countries rehabilitated and moving in the right direction as quickly as possible. So there's a golden opportunity for now for young leaders to make a difference and to be a symbol of the way things are going to go in this part of the world.

CNN: Thank you very much.

King Abdullah: Thank you very much.