Jordan’s King Abdullah says palace crisis ‘over’, sedition ‘nipped in the bud’
- Breaking his silence, the monarch says Prince Hamzeh, who was accused of a political conspiracy, is safe in the palace under his ‘protection’
- The crisis had laid bare divisions in a country usually seen as a bulwark of stability in the Middle East
Jordan’s King Abdullah broke his silence Wednesday to tell his nation that the worst political crisis in decades, sparked by an alleged plot involving his half-brother Prince Hamzeh, was over.
The government had accused Hamzeh – a former crown prince who was sidelined as heir to the throne in 2004 – of involvement in a conspiracy to “destabilise the kingdom’s security” and arrested at least 16 people.
But Abdullah said Wednesday that Hamzeh, who has signed a letter pledging his loyalty to the king following mediation by an uncle, was safe in his palace under his “protection”.
“I assure you, that the sedition has been nipped in the bud,” Abdullah said in an address read out in his name on state television, a day after an official news blackout on the affair.
“The challenge of these last days was not the most dangerous for the stability of the country – but it was the most painful for me because the parties involved in this sedition were from home and from outside,” he said.
It was not clear whether the king was referring to actors external to the royal family or to the kingdom.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Sunday had charged that the plotters had linked up with foreign parties, but had declined to identify them.