Conspiracy against the government disclosed in Jordan rises uncertainty in this country, revealing a race for the throne inside the royal family. Foreign connection trace increases risks for the stability of one of the key players in fighting terrorism in the Middle East.
Jordanian authorities on Saturday, April 3rd, arrested as many as 20 people and sought to restrain the movement of a former crown prince amid what officials called a threat to the “security and stability” of a country long regarded as a vital U.S. ally in the Middle East. In a statement published by the Jordanian state news agency, it was said the action was part of a broader security investigation in which a former minister, a member of the royal family and some other unidentified individuals were detained.
Prince Hamzeh bin Hussein, the eldest son of the late King Hussein and his American-born fourth wife, Queen Noor, was told to remain at his Amman palace amid an investigation into an alleged plot to unseat his older half brother, King Abdullah II, according to a senior Middle Eastern intelligence official briefed on the events. The official statement said that the former crown prince had not been arrested but that “comprehensive investigations” were underway.
The arrests of other officials were reported by Jordanian news outlets. Among them:
Sharif Hasan, a member of the royal family. He is the son of Sharif Hasan Ibn Zayd Al Nasser, a Hashemite who lives in Saudi Arabia.
Bassem Awadallah, a former senior official in Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court. But he resigned in 2008 amid allegations of interference in sensitive political and economic issues. Previously, Awadallah was the Economic Secretary to the Prime Minister of Jordan since 1992 and the Director of the Economics Department at the Royal Hashemite Court until 2001.
He is also an investment banker and CEO of Tomoh Advisory (a consultant firm based in Dubai). Awadallah had also served as special Jordanian representative to the Saudi government, and held Jordanian and Saudi passports. He was an adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi said Awadallah was in contact with the so-called “foreign opposition,” which aimed to incite the people against the Jordanian state. So, Saudi Arabian citizens could stand behind a plot in Jordan.
The fact that no members of the armed forces were among those detained over the alleged plot means that the probable plot was only in a phase of planning and no active support by security or defense forces was detected.
After the elevation of Mohammed bin Salman to Saudi Crown Prince, Jordan relations with KSA have deteriorated over Saudi attempts to sideline Jordan in negotiations over the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Jordan’s reluctant support to the Saudi position during the 2017–18 Qatar diplomatic crisis and limited involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, and growing Jordanian ties with Turkey. Moreover, the Saudis are aware that they are not competitive to the Hashemite family when it comes to the history of Islam. King Abdullah is the 43rd generation direct descendant to the Prophet Muhammad and the Saudis know this fact.
On February 7, 1999, King Hussein died and his eldest son Prince Abdullah bin Hussein acceded to the throne of Jordan, having two weeks previously been designated to succeed his father as ruler in place of the king’s brother, Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal. On the same day, in compliance with his father’s wish, King Abdullah II decreed that he, in turn, would be succeeded not by a son of his own but by his half-brother, Prince Hamzah, who was therefore accorded the title of crown prince.
Nearly six years later, on 28 November 2004, King Abdullah removed Hamzah as crown prince. In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he said, “Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to undertake.”
No successor to the title was named at the time, but some analysts believed it probable that Abdullah intended to name his own son, Prince Hussein, to succeed him at some point in the future. Article 28(B) of Jordan’s constitution provides that the king’s eldest son automatically succeeds to the crown upon the monarch’s death unless the king has designated one of his brothers to inherit the throne as crown prince, but Abdullah II confirmed that his son Hussein would succeed him by designating him as crown prince on 2 July 2009.
The move followed the discovery of what officials described as a complex and far-reaching plot that included at least one other Jordanian royal as well as tribal leaders and members of the country’s political and security establishment. There is evidence that Hamzah visited tribal leaders. He is very popular with the local tribes.
Since 2019 King Abdullah II is under growing pressure by local tribes to reboot a struggling economy, institute constitutional reform, and stand firm against a controversial US-Saudi scheme, the so-called “Deal of the Century” to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jordanian tribes believe they would be among the biggest losers of the “Deal of the Century” and vehemently oppose it – siding with their monarch, strangely enough, just at the moment when more popular discontent over transparency and the economy was seemingly on the rise again.
People of Jordan point to the national debt as “proof” of corruption – for which they blame the government, political elites and sometimes the monarch himself. They are demanding a greater share in “real” power and decision-making processes.
The Jordanian tribes have traditionally maintained a strong relationship with the Hashemites, the ruling royal family of Jordan. Members of the tribes were typically offered positions in state institutions with good security and benefits in exchange for loyalty. However, such benefits and positions have begun to disappear over the years as the economic situation has worsened.
The king has been accused of weakening the position of tribes in Jordanian political and social life – primarily through appointing their leaders, or sheikhs, himself.
In protests since December 2018, protesters not only lashed out at the Razzaz government but also chanted slogans against King Abdullah II. The most active unsatisfied tribes were the Beni Hassan tribe and the movement of the youths of Ahrar Abbad affiliated with the Beni al-Abbadi tribe.
So, Hamzeh bin Hussein could use the situation to gain power in Jordan and oust the King Abdullah II.
Analyzing the reaction of royal family, it is hard to deny that Queen Noor supports Prince Hamzeh bin Hussein in this plot.
Jordan has been hit hard economically by the coronavirus pandemic as well as by the fallout from massive waves of refugees from Syria, its northern neighbor.
It is likely that foreign backing for the plan existed. The Jordanian intelligence sources described the plan as “well-organized” and claimed some of the plotters appeared to have “foreign ties”. These included a foreign intelligence agency contacting Prince Hamza’s wife to organize a plane for the couple to leave Jordan. A Jordanian official tells Ammon news that Israeli Roy Shaposhnick contacted Prince Hamza’s wife and offered to organize a private jet to get her and her family out of Jordan. He confirms he proposed assitance to Prince Hamza and his family as part of their personal relationship.The late Jordanian journalist Nahed Hattar, who was assassinated in 2016, accused Awadallah of being corrupt and of being an agent for Israel in Jordan.
However, Israeli footprints could be infiltrated by third force in context of criticizing the “Deal of the Century”.
In a video statement late Saturday, Hamzeh denied wrongdoing and said the actions against him were an attempt to silence him for speaking out against corruption in Jordan. In the statement delivered to the BBC by his lawyer, he confirmed that he was “not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them, because in the meetings that I had been present in — or on social media relating to visits that I had made — there had been criticism of the government or the king.”
In the video statement that his lawyer passed along to the BBC, Hamzah practically charged Jordan’s government with corruption and incompetence. This statement, therefore, can be viewed as an indirect proof of his involvement in a plot.
Hamzah’s removal from succession to the throne by the King of Jordan, his conflict with the King Abdullah II, and reigning in Hamzah’s influence in country’s policy might be the ground for this plot. Hamzah has held multiple positions within the monarchy, including in the army, where he holds the rank of brigadier. He commands a loyal following in Amman and, with his trim mustache and checkered headdress, often styles himself after the late King Hussein, a revered figure in Jordan. Thus, Hamzah has shown all signs of claiming the throne and held sway over the military elites to stage a coup in the country.
Under the king, the resource-poor kingdom of 10 million has been a major partner in the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State and has assisted U.S. forces in security operations around the globe.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said U.S. officials were closely following the reports and were in touch with Jordanian officials. “King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support,” Price said. Support to the King Abdullah II by the regional countries is a positive message for the people in Jordan, but it does not indicate the third forces were not involved in the disclosed plans to destabilize the country.
