Jordan king places half brother Prince Hamzah under house arrest

King Abdullah II says Prince Hamzah is not going to be given ‘area to offend the nation’ as royal rift widens.

Jordan's Prince Hamzah
Hamzah was beforehand positioned beneath home arrest final 12 months after being accused of attempting to destabilise the monarchy [File: Ali Jarekji AJ/GB/Reuters]

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has imposed restrictions on the actions, place of residence and communications of his estranged half brother Prince Hamzah, widening a royal rift within the kingdom.

In a strongly worded public letter printed on Thursday, King Abdullah II mentioned he had decreed the measures on account of Hamzah’s “erratic conduct and aspirations.”

“We'll present Hamzah with all that he requires to stay a snug life, however he is not going to have the area he as soon as abused to offend the nation, its establishments, and his household, nor to undermine Jordan’s stability,” he mentioned.

Abdullah added that his half brother had throughout the previous 12 months or so “exhausted all alternatives to revive himself on the correct path”.

The announcement marked the newest chapter in an ongoing palace feud that noticed the junior royal positioned beneath a type of detention final 12 months and the interior disputes of the royal household spill into the general public eye.

Abdullah and Hamzah are sons of King Hussein, who dominated Jordan for practically a half-century earlier than his dying in 1999.

Abdullah had appointed Hamzah as crown prince upon his succession, however later stripped him of that title and as an alternative put in his personal son as inheritor as stipulated beneath the nation’s structure.

Alleged plot to destabilise the monarchy

Hamzah was positioned beneath home arrest final 12 months after being accused of attempting to destabilise the monarchy, a detailed ally of the West, in a foreign-inspired plot.

He was later spared punishment after pledging allegiance to the king, however a former royal chief adviser, Bassem Awadallah, and a minor royal had been sentenced to fifteen years in jail for his or her involvement within the alleged scheme.

In keeping with the Royal Court docket, Hamzah mentioned in an apology despatched to Abdullah in March that he hoped “we are able to flip the web page on this chapter in our nation’s and our household’s historical past”.

Restrictions on Hamza’s actions had been eased after he issued the mea culpa, through which he pledged to not act towards the pursuits of Jordan’s rulers.

However final month he introduced he was giving up his royal title, saying his convictions couldn't be reconciled with the “present approaches, insurance policies and strategies” of Jordan’s establishments. That transfer angered the palace, which says that beneath royal household legal guidelines, titles will be revoked solely by the monarch.

In Thursday’s letter, Abdullah lashed out at his half brother, saying he would “by no means enable our nation to be held hostage to the whims of somebody who has accomplished nothing to serve [it]”.

The monarch’s strongly worded public condemnation marked a doubtlessly dangerous transfer. Hamzah has loved appreciable recognition in Jordan, notably amongst its tribes, who've historically been a bedrock of help for the royal household.

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