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4 Apr 2021 — Jordanian security forces arrested more than 20 former Jordanian officials, including:
This royal crisis that emerged in Jordan shows that the country does have some unique problems of its own. A former U.S. official with knowledge of events in Jordan said the plot did not involve a "physical coup." Rather, he said, those involved were planning to push for protests that would appear to be a "popular uprising with masses on the street" with tribal support. Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan, seen as one of the Arab world's most stable countries.
1. The news comes at a precarious time for Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The country is experiencing a brutal coronavirus wave, with fatalities only recently dipping below 100 a day. Discontent has risen, with Jordanians increasingly angry over the government's handling of the pandemic and its inability to contain the economic devastation wreaked by strong lockdowns and weekend quarantines. In a video published by the BBC, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, one-time crown prince (and stepbrother to Jordan’s King Abdullah II) said the chief of the general staff of the Jordanian Army arrived at his house Saturday morning and informed him he was not permitted to leave or communicate with others because in meetings he was present for and social media posts he was mentioned in there was criticism of the king and the government.
2. Prince Hamzah, the son of Jordan's late King Hussein, has accused the Jordan government of corruption, nepotism and incompetence. He says all his staff have been arrested, he and his family have been placed under house arrest in the Al-Salaam Palace outside Amman and his communications have been restricted. He was named crown prince of Jordan in 1999. However, he was seen as too young and inexperienced to be named successor at the time of King Hussein's death. Instead it was King Abdullah to who took to the throne, and he stripped Hamzah of the title of crown prince in 2004.
4 Apr 2021 — Jordanian security forces arrested more than 20 former Jordanian officials, including:
(i) former chief of the royal court Bassem Awadallah (long-time confidant of the king who later became minister of finance and also adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — also known as MBS);
(ii) Prince Hamza’s chief of staff Yasser Majali; and
(iii) former Jordanian envoy to Saudi Arabia Hassan Bin Zayed (a member of the royal family).
This royal crisis that emerged in Jordan shows that the country does have some unique problems of its own. A former U.S. official with knowledge of events in Jordan said the plot did not involve a "physical coup." Rather, he said, those involved were planning to push for protests that would appear to be a "popular uprising with masses on the street" with tribal support. Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan, seen as one of the Arab world's most stable countries.
1. The news comes at a precarious time for Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The country is experiencing a brutal coronavirus wave, with fatalities only recently dipping below 100 a day. Discontent has risen, with Jordanians increasingly angry over the government's handling of the pandemic and its inability to contain the economic devastation wreaked by strong lockdowns and weekend quarantines. In a video published by the BBC, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, one-time crown prince (and stepbrother to Jordan’s King Abdullah II) said the chief of the general staff of the Jordanian Army arrived at his house Saturday morning and informed him he was not permitted to leave or communicate with others because in meetings he was present for and social media posts he was mentioned in there was criticism of the king and the government.
2. Prince Hamzah, the son of Jordan's late King Hussein, has accused the Jordan government of corruption, nepotism and incompetence. He says all his staff have been arrested, he and his family have been placed under house arrest in the Al-Salaam Palace outside Amman and his communications have been restricted. He was named crown prince of Jordan in 1999. However, he was seen as too young and inexperienced to be named successor at the time of King Hussein's death. Instead it was King Abdullah to who took to the throne, and he stripped Hamzah of the title of crown prince in 2004.
- A security official told the official Jordanian news agency Petra that all suspects other than the former crown prince had been under surveillance for some time and were arrested on security charges.
- Petra denied that Prince Hamza was under house arrest or arrested.
- The Washington Post first reported about the former crown prince arrest.
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