Last Saturday 3rd of April, Jordanian authorities entered the official residence of former Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein and arrested two senior persons of confidence. Officials from the General Intelligence Directorate have said that they had discovered a plot whose aim was to attempt a coup against King Abdullah, the current ruler of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The two senior aides were not the only ones arrested during the day, and the number of detainees rose to 16, accused of attempting to destabilize the country. Among those under arrest, there are former Jordan top officials, including Bassem Awadallah, former finance minister and head of the royal court.
At the moment, Prince Hamzah is under house arrest. In two videotapes released to the BBC, the alleged conspirer denounced his home arrest and denied any involvement in conspiracies against the current King. However, the royalty accused Jordan’s officials of being corrupt and incompetent and asserted that he has been detained for participating in meetings where the King was criticised.
On the other hand, Major General Yousef Huneiti, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, assured that Prince Hamzah has only been asked to stay home and “stop some activities that could shake the stability of Jordan”.
Former heir
Prince Hamzah bin Hussein is King Abdullah’s half-brother, and for five years, the Crown Prince of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Hamzah was appointed according to his father’s wish, King Hussein II. Hussein replaced his brother Hassan bin Talal as the Crown Prince only three weeks before his death and appointed his son Abdullah as his legitimate heir. As a condition to accessing the throne, Hussein asked his newly appointed successor to be awarded as the new inheritor.
Son of King Hussein and American-born Queen Noor, Hamzah was removed from his position during a television statement made by the King, who placed his son Hussein in 2009 in his replacement.
Nevertheless, Hamzah still had some popularity, especially among local tribes. He was a favourite of his father but was too young and inexperienced when King Hussein died.
Reasons for his arrest?
The details of his alleged conspiracy remain unclear. Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ayman Safadi, accused Prince Hamzah of being in touch with foreign elements to destabilize the country, by creating alliances and looking for mobilising local tribes against the King.
Safadi said that the intelligence services of the Kingdom, the GID (which has been awarded greater powers during the COVID pandemic) had been following him. In addition to these accusations, Mr Safadi assured that Prince Hamzah’s wife, Princess Basmah, was offered a flight outside Jordan by a man working for a foreign intelligence agency.
He also stated that the videos leaked to the BBC only tried to seek sympathy among the population, and what Prince Hamzah said in those tapes were not true.
Prince Hamzah’s mother, Queen Noor, denounced on Twitter that these accusations against his son are completely false, and hoped that truth will prevail. Princess Firyal went further and stated in the same platform (but later deleted it) that it was a succession problem, finishing his tweet with a laconic “Grow up, boys”.
A key Western ally
Jordan has kept a closer alliance with the West since the country’s independence in 1946. Designated by the US as a major non-NATO ally since 1996, Jordan has been also a very important party in the fight against ISIS. Also, Jordan has been hosting thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing from war, The United States and several neighbouring countries (including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain) have shown their support to King Abdullah. The Arab League, the most important organization of the Arab world, has also endorsed the Hashemite sovereign.
Despite there are no charges yet against the alleged conspirers, according to Petra (Jordan’s state press agency), there is an investigation ongoing.
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