Hamzah bin Hussein, a former Crown Prince of Jordan and King Abdullah II’s half brother, said in a video message on Saturday that he has been placed under “house arrest.” This comes amid a string of arrests of high-profile figures in the kingdom, including a member of the royal family and an old confidant of the monarch, citing reasons related to “Jordan’s security and stability,” The New York reports. Times.
‘Conspiracy’ to overthrow King Abdullah II
King Abdullah II, 59, has ruled Jordan since 1999, when he succeeded his father, King Hussein. Prince Hamzah is the eldest son of the late King Hussain and his fourth wife, Queen Noor, and was born into a Syrian-American family. Now, although Hamzah was appointed crown prince of Jordan in 99, his half-brother and current king, King Abdullah II, transferred the crown prince title to his son, Prince Hussein, in 2004.
According to a report by The Washington Post on Saturday, as many as 20 of Jordan’s high-ranking people have been arrested on security grounds, amid an ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to remove Hamza’s older half-brother, King Abdullah II. Aides arrested include Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of Jordan’s royal family and a former envoy to Saudi Arabia, and former Finance Minister Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, a longtime confidant of King Abdullah II. The two senior palace officials and the unidentified “others” were reportedly arrested after a “close security monitoring”.
Prince Hamza’s video message
In the six-minute video message apparently filmed on Saturday and provided to the BBC by his lawyer, the former Crown Prince of Jordan, Hamzah bin Hussein, described how he had been ordered to remain at his home incommunicado with his wife and children. . “Since then, several of the people I know, or my friends, have been arrested, my security has been taken down and the internet and phone lines have been cut off,” the Times told the former Crown Prince of Jordan. . “This is my last form of communication, satellite Internet, that I have, and the company has informed me that they have instructions to cut it off so that it is the last time I can communicate,” Prince Hamza said, adding. that he was making this recording to make it clear that he “is not part of any nefarious conspiracy or organization or group backed by foreigners, as is always stated here for anyone who speaks out.”
Malik R. Dahlan, an international lawyer, confirmed to the New York Times that the video was from Prince Hamzah, who sits on the board of his Quraysh Institution for Law & Policy in London.
The Jordanian army and security services, in an earlier statement published by the Petra news agency, had denied reports that Prince Hamza had been arrested. The former Crown Prince of Jordan was later asked “to cease all movements or activities that could be employed to attack Jordan’s security and stability,” The Post reported, citing a statement from the Jordanian Armed Forces that confirmed the multiple arrests.
Arrests of senior officials and members of the royal family are unusual in Jordan, a normally stable Arab kingdom that has been a staunch ally of the West, particularly when it comes to counterterrorism cooperation in the Middle East. It borders Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Syria and Iraq, the Post reported.
International reactions
Jordan is considered a vital ally of the United States in the Middle East and has been an important partner in the US-led campaign against the Islamic State. Jordan receives annual aid from Washington, and the United States most recently provided Jordan with $ 700 million in August.
The US State Department said on Saturday: “We are closely following the reports and in contact with Jordanian officials,” Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement. “King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.”
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have also expressed support for King Abdullah, the AFP news agency reported. In response to the arrests, Saudi officials said they supported the Jordanian king’s decisions and measures to preserve security and stability and to confront any attempts to affect them.
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