Tension fell in Amman on Monday April 5 after a forty-eight hour crisis that revealed unsuspected fractures within the royal family. Prince Hamza, younger half-brother of King Abdullah, whom the government accused during the weekend of seditious plots, in connection with a mysterious foreign power, has fallen into line. The 41-year-old son of Queen Noor, fourth wife of the late King Hussein, signed a declaration in which he reiterates his allegiance to the sovereign.
“I will remain faithful to the heritage of my ancestors, to His Majesty the King as well as to his Crown Prince, and I will put myself at their disposal to help and support them”, wrote the prince in the text published Monday evening by the royal palace. The reconciliation, which took place at the home of the king’s uncle, Prince Hassan Ben Talal, 74, an old sage of the Hashemite dynasty, puts an end – at least temporarily – to a quarrel that threatened to destabilize the kingdom .
The crisis erupted on Saturday, April 3, with the announcement of the arrest of personalities close to King Abdullah II and the concomitant revelation by Prince Hamza of his house arrest, against the backdrop of rumors of an aborted coup. The next day, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi implicated the 40-year-old in a conspiracy “Nipped in the bud”, conducted in conjunction with Bassem Awadallah, a former adviser to King Abdullah, who was his personal representative in Saudi Arabia, and Cherif Hassan Ben Zaid, another member of the royal family, who now assumes this function.
Popular discontent
These conclusions, the head of Jordanian diplomacy had specified, are the result of surveillance by the security services. “For a long time”, which brought to light ” [des] interventions and [des] contacts with foreign parties aimed at questioning the security of Jordan ”. Immediately, the partners of the Hashemite kingdom, such as Saudi Arabia, the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, expressed their “Support” to King Abdullah.
Internally, however, the official version has divided public opinion, with many analysts making no secret of their skepticism vis-à-vis the dramatic scenario painted by the authorities. “I don’t think it’s a Game Of Thrones Jordanian, testified on Sunday a good connoisseur of the royal family. In my opinion, this turmoil has more to do with the rise of popular discontent, in the political and economic fields. I have the feeling that the government exaggerates the threat to discourage any public discussion of corruption. “
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