Monday, April 5th, 2021
Is the power struggle over in Jordan?
Prince Hamsa swears allegiance to the king
In Jordan, an end to the dispute in the royal family is on the horizon. Prince Hamsa, who has been placed under house arrest, seems to give in to staying firmly in the saddle of King Abdullah.
In the power struggle in the Jordanian royal family, Prince Hamsa bin Hussein has sworn allegiance to his half-brother King Abdullah II. In the evening the royal court announced that Prince Hamsa had admitted his involvement in a plot against the security and stability of the kingdom. He signed a declaration to that effect. In the evening, the royal family published a letter signed by the prince, in which Hamsa assured him that he would “remain loyal to” the legacy “of his ancestors and to” his majesty “, King Abdullah II. “I will always be ready to help and support His Majesty the King and his Crown Prince,” assured Hamsa.
For his part, King Abdullah II agreed to an attempt at mediation within the family. Abdullah II decided to clarify the matter within the Jordanian royal family and to entrust his uncle Prince Hassan with it, the palace said.
The Jordanian government said it had thwarted a plot over the weekend and placed Prince Hamsa under house arrest on charges of conspiracy. At least 16 other suspects were arrested. Hamsa and his alleged co-conspirators are accused of working with foreign forces to “undermine” Jordan’s stability and security, according to a government spokesman.
Hamsa had announced resistance
King Abdullah II, who ascended the throne in 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein, initially made Hamsa crown prince at his father’s request. In 2004, however, he revoked this and gave his own son Hussein this title.
The 41-year-old Hamsa, who claims to have been placed under house arrest in his palace in Amman, denied being involved in a conspiracy in a video published by the BBC on Saturday. He was not part of a plot, stressed Hamsa.
On Sunday evening, Hamsa announced in an audio recording published on Twitter that it would oppose the conditions imposed by the Jordanian authorities. “Of course I won’t obey if they say you can’t go out, you can’t tweet, you can’t communicate with people,” he said. At the same time, however, he announced that he would not take any further “steps” and avoid an “escalation”. His letter now indicates that the power struggle is ebbing.
Foreign Minister Al-Safadi said more than a dozen suspects were arrested. In addition, two high-ranking men were arrested “for security reasons”: Bassim Auadalla, former chairman of the royal court, and Hassan bin Said, member of the royal family. Prince Hamsa, on the other hand, was neither arrested nor placed under house arrest, the state agency Petra reported on Saturday.
Chief of Staff Jussif al-Hunaiti denied that the prince had been placed under house arrest. However, he issued a statement calling on him to refrain from actions that could endanger the stability and security of the kingdom. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other countries expressed their support for King Abdullah II. US State Department spokesman Ned Price described the monarch as a “key partner” of the US, who had the “full support” of the United States. Jordan is considered largely stable and secure compared to some of its regional neighbors.
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