Jordan’s Prince Hamzeh, under house arrest after alleged coup attempt, appears to affirm loyalty to the king
By Shira Rubin and Sarah Dadouch,
Khalil Mazraawi AFP/Getty Images
TEL AVIV — Jordan’s Prince Hamzeh bin Hussein, the former crown prince who has been under house arrest after an alleged coup attempt, affirmed Monday his loyalty to his half-brother, King Abdullah II, according to a letter with Hamzeh’s signature released by the royal court.
“The interests of the homeland must remain above all else, and we must all stand behind his highness the king and his efforts to protect Jordan and its national interests,” the typed letter said after praising the royal family’s history and King Abdullah. “In light of the developments over the past two days, I place myself in the hands of his highness the king.”
The royal court said in a statement that Hamzeh had signed the letter after meeting with his uncle Prince Hassan, who had been tapped to mediate the family conflict, and four other princes at Hassan’s home.
Hamzeh, 41, has been under house arrest since Saturday, at the same time that the military detained up to 17 additional high-level officials whom it accused of taking part in an internationally backed plot to harm the security of the kingdom.
Shortly before the letter with Hamzeh’s signature had been released, the royal court put out a statement saying he had agreed that the royal Hashemite family’s differences would be addressed through Hassan’s mediation.
“In light of his highness the King Abdullah II’s decision to deal with the topic of his highness Prince Hamzeh within the framework of the Hashemite family, his highness has granted this path to his uncle, his highness Prince Alhassan,” the royal court said in a statement.
The efforts at reconciliation came only hours after Hamzeh had said he intended to disobey military orders to cease communicating with the public, including on Twitter, according to a voice recording released Monday.
“I don’t want to move because I don’t want to escalate [the situation] yet, but of course I’m not going to adhere when they tell me you can’t go out and you can’t tweet and you can’t communicate with people and you’re only allowed to see family,” said Hamzeh in the recording. “When the head of the [army] comes and tells you this stuff, it’s a bit . . . I think it’s unacceptable, in any form. So now we’re waiting for salvation, and we’ll see.”
The recording, which seemed to start and end abruptly, as if potentially cut from a larger audio file, was shared by opposition groups on Facebook early Monday morning. They did not specify when it had been recorded.
It was made public a day after an Israeli businessman and close friend of Hamzeh, Roy Shaposhnik, said that he had offered the prince’s wife and children the use of a private jet to escape Jordan, suggesting that the royals accused by the government of “promoting sedition” may have been planning to leave the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/jordan-accuses-prince-of-plot-to-destabilize-country/2021/04/04/11aa54f2-5e8e-46e1-9871-04f9d9a03ddc_video.html
The officials detained in recent days were “individuals who hoped to undermine Jordan’s role in the region, and [who engaged in] activities whose goal were to strike Jordan, its stability, and promote sedition,” said Deputy Prime Minister Ayman al-Safadi in a televised statement on Sunday.
Among those arrested were Sharif Hasan, a member of the royal family; Bassem Awadullah, a former senior official in the royal court and special Jordanian representative to the Saudi government; Yasser Majali, the head of Hamzeh’s office; Sheikh Sameer Majali; and several others who served in prominent positions in the government and military.
Safadi said that as many as 18 officials who had been detained had been under extensive surveillance and were known to have ties to foreign entities. He said that the prince had been contacted by a foreign source who had offered him services, including the use of a private plane for his wife and children to flee Jordan.
On Sunday night, Ammon, a news site with ties to the Jordanian intelligence community, reported that Shaposhnik, whom it identified as former Mossad, had offered the plane.
Several hours later, Shaposhnik, in a statement posted on Facebook, denied having worked for the Mossad, Israeli’s intelligence agency, but said that he was a close friend of Hamzeh.
“Mr. Shaposhnik, 41, is an Israeli citizen who resides in Europe. Despite salacious reporting to the contrary, he has never served in any capacity with any intelligence branch in Israel or any other country for that matter. He has, however, maintained a friendship with Prince Hamzeh Bin Hussein of Jordan,” said the statement. “This weekend Prince Hamzeh contacted Mr. Shaposhnik to describe the dynamic situation in Amman and to express concerns about the safety of his family. In response, Mr. Shaposhnik extended an invitation for the prince’s wife and children to stay at his home in Europe.”
[What to know about Jordan, the U.S. ally that faced an alleged coup attempt]
The United States, in addition to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and a slew of other regional allies, quickly voiced support for the monarch on Saturday.
The only Israeli response came from Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who called the situation an “internal” issue.
The dramatic developments have made public the traditionally private rifts within in the Jordanian royal palace between Abdullah and his popular half brother.
Hamzeh and Abdullah are both the sons of Jordan’s late, revered King Hussein, although they have different mothers. Tensions between them have reportedly been brewing since 2004, when Hamzeh was replaced by Abdullah’s eldest son, Hussein, as crown prince.
Under house arrest late Saturday night, Hamzeh sent a video to the BBC accusing the government of corruption, incompetence and intolerance for dissent. He did not mention the king.
“It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened,” Hamzeh says in the video.
Jordan is under a strict nightly coronavirus-related curfew that is set to last until mid-May. It has been hit hard economically by the pandemic and by the massive waves of refugees who have arrived from neighboring Syria.
The country’s health minister resigned last month after seven people died of covid-19 amid a shortage of oxygen supplies at government hospitals.
The following day, protesters defied the nighttime curfew and took to the streets, calling for the government to resign, and chanting for Hamzeh to save the country.
Dadouch reported from Beirut.
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