Jordan prince strikes defiant tone on house arrest
Jordan’s Prince Hamzah, accused of plotting against his halfbrother King Abdullah II, has struck a defiant tone, insisting he will not obey orders restricting his movement.
The government has accused Prince Hamzah of involvement in a seditious conspiracy to “destabilise the kingdom’s security”, placed him under house arrest and detained at least 16 more people.
But the 41-year-old Hamzah, who says he has been ordered to stay inside his Amman palace, vowed he would defy orders limiting his freedom of movement.
“I don’t want to make moves and escalate now, but of course I’m not going to obey when they say you can’t go out, you can’t tweet, you can’t communicate with people, you’re only allowed to see your family,” he said in an audio recording posted on Twitter late on Sunday.
Prince Hamzah — a former crown prince stripped off that title by King Abdullah in 2004 — has emerged as a vocal critic of the monarchy, accusing it of corruption, nepotism and authoritarian rule.
In a video he sent to the BBC on Saturday he denied being involved in a plot, and said he had been ordered under house arrest by Jordan’s most senior military figure, General Youssef Huneiti.
In the latest recording, Prince Hamzah said that: “When the head of the joint chiefs of staff comes and tells you this, it’s a bit ... I think it’s a bit unacceptable”.
The palace turmoil has laid bare a rift in Jordan, usually considered a bulwark of stability in the Middle East.
Washington and major Gulf powers were quick to pledge their support for King Abdullah and for all steps taken to ensure stability amid reports of a foiled coup plot.
The United Arab Emirates on Sunday voiced its “full solidarity” with Jordan.
In a statement on its WAM news agency, it said it backed “any measures taken by King of Jordan, King Abdullah II... to preserve the security and stability of Jordan and defuse any attempt that seeks to jeopardise either”.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia had swiftly reacted, also voicing its “full support... for the decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein to safeguard security and stability”.
The remaining four members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman — also voiced their support in similar terms. The oil-rich GCC states are key backers of resource-poor Jordan, which depends heavily on external aid.
King Abdullah had appointed Prince Hamzah crown prince in 1999 in line with King Hussein’s dying wishes, but in 2004 stripped him of the title and gave it to his own son Prince Hussein.