The telegraph
Jordanian authorities detained after ‘coup attempt’
Former aides to the King of Jordan and more than a dozen other important figures were detained on Saturday night after an attempted coup. A former royal envoy and a former confidant of King Abdullah bin al-Hussein were among those reportedly arrested in the midst of an ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt to oust the monarch. Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the eldest son of the late King Hussein and his fourth US-born wife, Queen Noor, said in a video recording on Saturday that he was told to stay home and not contact anyone. by the “chief of the personal general of the Jordanian armed forces.” He said in the video, passed by his lawyer to the BBC, that “he was not the person responsible for the collapse in governance, corruption and incompetence that has prevailed in our government structure for the past 15 for 20 years and has been getting worse. ”Army Chief Yusef Huneity previously denied reports that the prince had been arrested, but said he should“ halt activities that are being exploited to achieve Jordan’s security and stability. ” Prince Hamzah served as Crown Prince of Jordan for four years before the title was transferred to the eldest son of the current monarch, Hussein. was developed, or how many potential conspirators were involved. An intelligence officer told The Washington Post that the plan was “comprehensive” and “well organized” and said they appeared to have “foreign ties”. State media said only that the arrests were “security-related”. Israeli media said the CIA and Mossad warned King Abdullah of the plan. Amman has strong ties to the United Kingdom and the United States, sharing information regularly, and is a key partner in the international campaign against Islamic State. King Abdullah, 59, who trained at Sandhurst in the 1980s, has governed the country since King Hussein’s death in 1999. Jordan’s powerful intelligence agency, with wide influence on public life, has played a larger public role since the introduction of emergency laws at the start of the pandemic last year, civic groups say they violate civil and political rights. Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said: “We are following the reports closely and in contact with Jordanian officials. King Abdullah is a fundamental partner of the United States and has our full support ”. Saad al-Hariri, the appointed Lebanese prime minister, said: “All solidarity with the Jordanian leadership and King Abdullah in defending the gains of the Jordanian people, protecting their stability and refusing to interfere in their affairs.”