Jordan queen all a-Twitter over papal visit

"Just choppered to airport to receive the Pope. Husband piloting, he got acrobatic to quiet butterflies in stomach... told u he was action man!" the stylish young queen said of her husband King Abdullah II.

Her office said in a statement that the queen decided to register on the Internet social network Twitter on the site http://twitter.com/QueenRania to mark Benedict's first Middle East pilgrimage.

The king and queen gave the German pontiff a red carpet welcome at Queen Alia Airport as he began his eight-day pilgrimage will on Monday take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"Just listened to Pope's speech. Our region so needs a message of Peace," Rania said in a message on Twitter.

"Special day here in Amman; not everyday pope drop s by 4 a visit."

Later, before the royal family received the papal visitor at the royal offices in Husseinyeh west of Amman, she posted a message about her children.

"Taking kids 2 meet Pope, just about convinced eldest 2 wear suit. Now negotiating with my 4 yr old!" Rania wrote.

Last year the queen made headlines when she launched her own Internet channel on YouTube in a bid to encourage young people to help tackle stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs.

And she urged viewers to interact online with her and respond with their opinions of the Middle East "and to acknowledge stereotypes they've heard of Arabs and Muslims."

(c) 2009 AFP