King Abdullah II of Jordan took the initiative to initiate mediation with his half-brother Prince Hamza, who pledged to "
remain loyal
" to him after being accused over the weekend of being part of a "
evil
"
plot
against his country, the royal palace announced Monday evening.
Read also: King Abdullah of Jordan stifles an attempt at destabilization
"
I will remain true to the heritage of my ancestors, to His Majesty the King as well as to his Crown Prince, and I will put myself at their disposal to help and support them,
" Prince Hamza wrote in a letter signed before members of the royal family and published Monday evening April 5 in a press release from the royal palace.
Shortly before, the palace had announced that the sovereign had taken the initiative of a mediation with his half-brother to try to settle the fracture within a family which will have reigned on April 11 for a century over Jordan.
"
His Majesty King Abdullah II has decided to deal with the question of Prince Hamza within the framework of the Hashemite family
", the palace had tweeted, specifying that the king had entrusted a mediation mission to his uncle "
Prince Hassan who, in in turn, communicated with Prince Hamza and the latter said he adhered to the approach of the family
”.
74-year-old Prince Hassan ben Talal was Crown Prince of Jordan from 1965 to 1999. Prince Hamza, 41, had hitherto displayed his mistrust by refusing to obey orders to cease his “
activities
” and restrict its movements.
He denied on Saturday the allegations against him and in return accused the power of "
corruption
" and "
incompetence
".
In a conversation recorded and broadcast Sunday evening on Twitter, he said to an unidentified interlocutor: "
It is sure that I will not obey (the orders of the Chief of Staff, General Youssef Huneiti) when he tells me that I am not allowed to go out, to tweet, to communicate with people and that I am only allowed to see my family
”.
In accordance with his father's wish, Hamza was appointed crown prince when Abdullah II became king.
But the sovereign took this title away from him in 2004 to give it to his own eldest son, Hussein.
The plot, the first of its kind since the creation of the Hashemite kingdom 100 years ago, came to light on Saturday with Hamza being implicated in "
activities
" that could harm the kingdom and then the announcement of the arrest for "
Security reasons
" of fifteen people including Bassem Awadallah, a former adviser to the king.
On the same day, the eldest son of King Hussein who died in 1999 and Queen Noor, an American, claimed to be under house arrest in his palace in Amman.
The authorities have not confirmed this measure.
Deputy Prime Minister Aymane Safadi said on Sunday that the "
sedition
" had been "
nipped in the bud
" after accusing Prince Hamza of having collaborated with an "
foreign power
", unidentified, to try to destabilize the kingdom.
Internet cut
At the request of the king, the chief of staff went to the prince on Saturday to ask him to stop "
all movements and activities aimed at the security and stability of Jordan
", but the meeting went badly. past, added Aymane Safadi.
“
I recorded the whole conversation and distributed it (...) Now I'm waiting to see what will happen and what they will do.
I do not want to move (for the moment) because I do not want to worsen the situation
", had said the prince in his last recording, denouncing a situation"
unacceptable
".
Residents indicated Monday morning that internet access had been interrupted for two days in the upscale district of Dabouq (west of Amman), where Prince Hamza and other princes and princesses live.
For Ahmad Awad, who heads the Phenix Center for Economics and Informatics Studies in Amman, “
what happened is a first in its intensity in the history of Jordan
”.
“
This is the start of a crisis and not the end.
This shows that political, economic and democratic reforms are needed,
”he told AFP.
Foreign support
According to Mr. Safadi, "
the investigations revealed links between Bassem Awadallah and external parties (...) to implement evil plans aimed at undermining the stability of Jordan
".
"
A person with links to foreign security services was in contact with Prince Hamza's wife and offered to provide her with a plane to leave Jordan,
" he added without specifying the identity of this "
person
".
The Israeli Roy Shaposhnik, presenting himself as "
a friend of Prince Hamza
", indicated to have made a "
modest humanitarian gesture
" by "
inviting the wife and children of the prince to come to his home in Europe
". However, he stressed that he had "
never been an intelligence agent from Israel or any other country
."