Twenty excellent personalities arrested in Jordan for a suspected "plot" against King Abdallah II.
Among these there would be - as claimed by the Washington Post - also the half-brother of the monarch Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, but Amman has officially denied it while confirming his involvement.
A situation whose contours are not yet completely clear based on the first information coming from the Hashemite kingdom.
The arrests were motivated with "security reasons" after "careful monitoring" of the latter.
The "well-informed" source cited by the Petra agency added that an investigation has been opened to shed light on the whole affair defined as a "threat to the stability of the country".
Among the excellent names who ended up under arrest - as confirmed by the government agency - include Sharif Hassan Bin Zaid and Basem Ibrahim Awadallah, two senior officials linked to the Royal House.
The first - the media recalled - was the Jordanian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and also linked to Prince Ali Ben Hussein, brother of the king.
The latter was King Abdullah's longtime confidant and also finance minister after serving as head of the Royal Household office.
Awadallah has been a driving force behind the economic reforms undertaken in the kingdom and has long faced the resistance of the old guard to change.
The most important name, however, is undoubtedly that of Hamzah bin Hussein with respect to whom, however, Petra has denied both house arrest and detention itself.
It is therefore not yet known in what capacity he was called into question nor what his current status is.
However, the Jordanian chief of staff, General Yousef al Huneiti, said that Hamzah was ordered to refrain from travel and other activities that could be exploited to destabilize the Hashemite kingdom.
"Nobody - continued the general - is above the law and Jordan's security and stability take precedence over any consideration".
Hamzah is the son of Queen Noura (of American birth), fourth wife of the late King Hussein and is therefore the half-brother of Abdallah II who is the son of Queen Muna (of British birth), second wife of the former monarch.
Hamzah - born 1980) was appointed Crown Prince by Abdallah in 1999. A position he held until 2004 when Abdallah himself reverted to his decision.
The media recalled Hamzah's criticism of corruption in Jordan.
The Jerusalem Post said among the twenty arrested were men close to the former Crown Prince, including the director of his office Yasser Sulieman al-Majali.
The director of the Hamzah Palace, Adnan Abu Hammad, was also arrested.
Jordan - which has a peace treaty with Israel - has informed the Jewish state, according to the Walla website, that "the situation is under control" and that there is no danger to the stability of the Hashemite kingdom due to the wave of arrests made today.
The message was relayed by official Jordanian sources to their Israeli counterparts.