Jordan’s Prince Hamzah has said he will refuse to obey orders while being held under house arrest following accusations he plotted a coup against King Abdullah II – his half-brother – by the country’s deputy prime minister.
‘I am going to escalate and won’t obey when they tell you you cannot go out or tweet or reach out to people and are only allowed to see the family,’ he said in the recording he circulated to friends and contacts on Sunday.
On Saturday the military warned the prince over actions it said were undermining ‘security and stability’ in Jordan, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. Prince Hamza later said he was under house arrest, and several high-profile figures were also detained.
The message came after Princess Firyal of Jordan – the prince’s aunt and the former sister in-law of Jordan’s Queen Noor Al Hussein, who is Prince Hamzah’s mother – publicly waded into the on-going fallout surrounding the accusations.
Princess Firyal, who was married to Queen Noor’s brother-in-law until their divorce in 1978, accused Queen Noor of ‘blind ambition’ and her son of having a ‘sense of entitlement’ in a tweet on Sunday morning, that she has since deleted.
‘The seemingly blind ambition of Queen Noor & her sons is delusional, futile, unmerited, false sense of entitlement. The all should know better,’ Firyal wrote.
Princess Firyal, (left) was married to Queen Noor’s brother-in-law until their divorce in 1978. She has accused Queen Noor of ‘blind ambition’ and her son Prince Hamzah bin Hussein (right) of having a ‘sense of entitlement’ in a tweet on Sunday morning, that she has since deleted
Pictured: The Jordanian family tree, showing how Prince Hamzah is related to Princess to Princess Firyal, who called on him to ‘grow up’ on Twitter
O’Such as the constitutional succession act, father to eldest son, experienced with uninterrupted service record. Grow up boys,’ she added.
Officials announced on Sunday that Prince Hamza had liaised with people who had contacts with foreign parties in a plot to destabilise the country and he had been under investigation for some time.
It is unclear why the kingdom decided to crack down on Prince Hamza now, but he put himself at risk by making frequent visits to tribal gatherings where some people criticised the king.
Officials said efforts were underway to resolve the crisis within the royal family, in the first such open rift in many years, but Prince Hamza was not cooperative.
King Abdullah removed Prince Hamza from his position as heir to the throne in 2004, in a move that consolidated his power.
The pair share former king Hussein bin Talal of Jordan as a father. He died in 1999, but were born to different mothers. Hussein bin Talal had four wives, and was succeeded by now-king Abdullah in the year of his death.
‘The seemingly blind ambition of Queen Noor & her sons is delusional, futile, unmerited, false sense of entitlement. The all should know better,’ Firyal wrote on twitter. ‘Such as the constitutional succession act, father to eldest son, experienced with uninterrupted service record. Grow up boys.’
Also on Sunday, Queen Noor slammed the claims that her son plotted a coup as ‘wicked slander’.
The American-born Jordanian royal, 69, said she hoped ‘praying that truth and justice will prevail’ following the reported detainment of her son Prince Hamzah bin Hussein.
Prince Hamzah is the son of the late King Hussein of Jordan and fourth wife Queen Noor.
He is the half-brother of the reigning King Abdullah II and was previously the Crown Prince of the middle eastern country – a key ally of the US – before being unexpectedly replaced by one of King Abdullah’s sons.
Jordan’s deputy Prime Minister accused the former crown prince of conspiring with foreign powers in a ‘malicious plot’ that he claimed had threatened national security.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that the alleged ‘destabilisation’ plot had been foiled at the ‘zero hour’.
Mr Safadi did not mention which foreign powers were alleged to be involved
It comes after 20 people were arrested over the alleged plot, including the country’s former finance minister Bassem Awadallah – an adviser to to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia, a long-term ally of Jordan, shared their support following claims of a coup.
And of the Saudi crown prince’s aides Sunday appeared to brush off rumours the kingdom, and one of the Persian gulf states, was involved in the alleged plot.
In a tweet, which included four pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Royal adviser, Turki Alalshikh, said: ‘No comment… the pictures speak.’
Jordan’s Queen Noor Al Hussein (pictured left) Sunday slammed claims her son Prince Hamzah bin Hussein (pictured right) plotted a coup as ‘wicked slander’ amid reports he has been placed under house arrest
Prince Hamzah is the half-brother of King Abdullah (pictured here with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and one-time Crown Prince of the middle eastern country – a key ally of the US
Sunday saw Foreign Minister Mr Safadi tell reporters that more than a dozen people had been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.
He said: ‘Then it was clear they moved from design and planning into action.’
Mr Safadi spoke a day after Prince Hamzah was placed under house arrest, in a rare public clash between top members of the long-ruling family.
The unprecedented incident has raised concerns about stability in a country seen as a key Western ally.
In a videotaped statement sent to the BBC from house arrest, Hamzah accused the country’s leadership of corruption and incompetence.
Safadi, who also holds the title of deputy prime minister, said intelligence agents had been observing the plotters for some time and raised their concerns with the king.
He said Hamzah was asked to ‘stop all these activities and movements that threaten Jordan and its stability,’ but he refused.
The US also offered its support to King Abdullah on Sunday.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, ‘King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.’
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates similarly issued statements supporting Abdullah.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called Jordan a ‘strategic ally’ and dismissed the turmoil as an ‘internal Jordanian matter.’
Yesterday Prince Hamzah released a five-minute video accusing the country’s leaders of corruption, incompetence and harassment.
In what Prince Hamzah described as his last available form of communication before his satellite internet was cut off, he said the chief of general staff visited him early Saturday morning.
In the five-minute video from his palace in Amman, shared by his lawyer with the BBC, he said: ‘I had a visit from chief of general staff of the Jordanian armed forces this morning in which he informed me that I 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.’
It reportedly comes after the prince made a visit to tribal leaders where he is said to have garnered support. Prince Hamza denied any wrongdoing.
General Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff, denied reports that Prince Hamzah was arrested but said he was asked to ‘stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan’s security and stability’.
He said an investigation is still ongoing and its results will be made public ‘in a transparent and clear form’.
‘No-one is above the law and Jordan’s security and stability are above all,’ he told the official Petra news agency.
Prince Hamzah, whose title of crown prince was rescinded by the king in 2004, went on to say: ‘I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse… And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions.
‘It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened.’
He said he had been isolated inside his home with his Canadian wife Princess Basmah Bani Ahmad and their five young children.
He said he had been isolated inside his home with his Canadian wife Princess Basmah Bani Ahmad and their five young children. Pictured on their wedding day in 2012
General Yousef Huneiti, the army chief of staff, denied reports that Prince Hamzah was arrested but said he was asked to ‘stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan’s security and stability’. Pictured, Jordan’s King Abdullah II in December 2020
Petra had earlier reported that at least two senior officials who formerly worked for the palace ‘and others’ were arrested for ‘security reasons’, without providing further details.
The Petra report said Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, the former royal envoy to Saudi Arabia, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, the former head of the royal court, were detained.
Awadallah also previously served as planning minister and finance minister.
The agency did not provide further details or name the others who were arrested.
Jordan has long been a key Western ally and an island of stability in a turbulent region. It borders Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to half a century.
Abdullah has cultivated close relations with US and other Western leaders over the years, and Jordan was a key ally in the war against the Islamic State group.
The country’s economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Jordan, with a population of around 10 million, also hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.
Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994, but relations have been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.
Jordan is home to more than two million Palestinian refugees, most of whom have Jordanian citizenship.
Abdullah stripped his half-brother Hamzah of his title as crown prince in 2004, saying he had decided to ‘free’ him ‘from the constraints of the position of crown prince’.
He said the move was ‘in order to give you the freedom to work and undertake any mission or responsibility I entrust you with.’
The current crown prince is Abdullah’s oldest son, Hussein, aged 26.
Abdullah (pictured centre right) stripped his half-brother Hamzah of his title as crown prince in 2004, saying he had decided to ‘free’ him ‘from the constraints of the position of crown prince’. The current crown prince is Abdullah’s oldest son, Hussein (pictured right), aged 26
Abdullah (pictured centre next to King Abdullah) has ruled Jordan since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to half a century
Abdullah had originally chosen Hamzah as his crown prince hours after their father died of cancer in February 1999.
The designation was out of respect for Hussein, who is known to have favoured Hamzah the most among his 11 children.
The children were from four different marriages – the last of which was to Queen Noor of Jordan.
American-born Queen Noor, the mother of Hamzah, was married to the King from 1978 until his death in 1999.
Abdullah and Hamzah have not displayed any open rivalry over the years.