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| Prince Hamza bin Hussein, half brother of King Abdullah II of Jordan. © AFP=News1 |
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Aiman Sapadi announced on the 4th that Hamja bin Hussein, the half-brother of King Abdullah II, was a conspiracy to undermine Jordan’s security in cooperation with foreign political parties.
According to Reuters, Deputy Prime Minister Sapadi said at a press conference today that Jordanian authorities have revealed that they are trying to compromise Jordan’s security by eavesdropping on communications between Prince Hamza and foreign political parties.
Deputy Prime Minister Sapadi explained that the investigation had been underway for a long time, and that Prince Hamza and his crew moved for a moment to put the plan into action.
According to Sapadi, the decision to put Prince Hamza under house arrest was made by King Abdullah II himself.
He added that efforts were made to contain the situation within the Jordanian royal family, all within the framework of the law.
In addition, 14 to 16 more were arrested in addition to Vashem Awadala, who had been trusted by the king for a long time and served as finance minister, and Sharif Hassan Ben Zaid, a member of the royal family.
He added that Prince Hamza and others involved in the conspiracy will be referred to the Jordanian National Security Court.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Sapadi did not disclose exactly which country he had contacted with Prince Hamza.
Earlier, the AFP news agency reported on the previous day that Prince Hamza was detained due to a failed coup. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency also reported that several suspects were arrested for “security related” charges.
In a video sent to the BBC, Prince Hamza claimed that he was under house arrest and that communication with the outside world was banned, such as telephone and internet cuts.
Prince Hamza was reprimanded as a royal priest according to the will of former King Hussein, the father of Abdullah II, but was deprived of his status in 2004. Instead, Prince Hussein, the eldest son of Abdullah II, was raised as the crown prince.
First of all, the international community is in a position to support Abdullah II.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are keeping an eye on the reports and in contact with Jordanian authorities. “Abdullah II is a major US partner and we fully support him.”
Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt also declared support for Abdullah II.