Jordan arrests high-profile figures
AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian government has arrested high-profile figures in the kingdom, including a member of the royal family and a former chief of the royal court, with officials citing “the security and stability of Jordan” as intrigue consumed the country Saturday.
Bassem Awadallah, a longtime confidant of King Abdullah II who later became minister of finance, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family who was the former royal envoy to Saudi Arabia, were detained, along with an unclear number of other unnamed figures.
Mr. Awadallah helped spearhead economic reforms before leaving as head of the royal court in 2008. More recently, he was an adviser to the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and he was suspected in a corruption case.
The fate of the former crown prince of Jordan, Hamzah bin Hussein, a halfbrother of King Abdullah, was unclear. In a statement published Saturday by the official Petra news agency, the Jordanian army and security services denied reports that Hamzah had been arrested. But it said he had been ordered to cease activities and movements undermining “the security and stability of Jordan.”
“The steps taken today took place after a thorough investigation by the security services,” the statement added.
In a dramatic video apparently filmed under house arrest, the former crown prince described how he had been ordered to remain in his home incommunicado with his wife and children as part of a series of high-profile arrests by security services.
“Since then, a number of the people I know or my friends have been arrested, my security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut,” Prince Hamzah said. “This is my last form of communication, satellite internet, that I have, and I have been informed by the company that they are instructed to cut it, so it may be the last time I am able to communicate.”
Malik Dahlan, an international lawyer, confirmed that the video was of Prince Hamzah, who serves on the board of his Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy in London, and expressed concern about “the escalation of the situation.”