AS the troubles continue in the Middle East, one councillor has more reason than many to keep a close eye on the current outbreak of fighting between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Councillor Karimeh Foster started her career as a nurse in the Jordanian Army, but more than 20 years on finds herself representing the Whitehall ward of Darwen on her local council. But she still has strong family ties to the region and recently found herself watching her cousin being interviewed on the television after an Israeli bomb had only just missed him and his family.

Born and brought up in Jordan and the West Bank, Karimeh Foster has seen more than many of those sitting on the council benches alongside her. She said: "I think the experiences in life I have had qualify me for the job."

Coun Foster became a councillor 10 years ago because she felt there were many things she could help to improve.

She said: "I felt I have the expertise and experiences in life working in management and as a nurse to help people. I didn't go into it for financial gain or to improve my social position, but to see a smile on people's faces when you deliver services to them."

Coun Foster told how she came to swap the sunny if troubled Middle East for a very different home in East Lancashire.

She explained: "I started as a cadet in the army and did very well in my exams, so they offered me a study place abroad after I graduated to second lieutenant, when I had worked for about six months on a medical ward.

"They needed someone for casualty because of the war and in 1975-76 they sent me to college at Kingston-upon-Thames to do a casualty and administration course." It was there she met David Foster, a native of Darwen, whose brother, Tony, was a tutor at Brompton Hospital. Tony had previously met and married Karimeh's sister, Samira.

Karimeh's family already had strong British connections. Her mother, named Victoria after the Queen, had trained as a nurse with the British when they occupied Palestine.

But the path of love was not straight and true and Kamireh's army commitments meant she had to return home to continue her service. She said: "When I went back, David followed me. He said can I visit you, and I said yes."

Because Karimeh had been on the course in England she then had to serve a minimum of three years in the army. She said: "But we managed to get around it. My father needed treatment because he was very poorly and the head of the army said they would keep me on until he had had his liver operation."

After that she was free to come back to England, where she and David, also a councillor in Darwen, married.

Now she works in a nursing home in Blackburn and has two daughters, Samira, which means friend and Mary Emal, which means hope.

Much of Karimeh's family still live in Jordan, at Madaba, about 20 miles from the capital Amman and she still has many fond memories of the troubled land she left.

Among the most treasured are the times she met King Hussain. She said: "When I was a cadet the King was ill and I was part of the nursing team. There was something about him that makes you almost worship him.

"He was humble and down to earth, but at the same time, respect is there without demanding it."

Picture: Karimeh with her husband David, and (bottom), meeting King Hussein, who she found 'humble and down to earth,' during her time as a nurse in Jordan