AMMAN, Jordan — Workers and associates of a Jordanian prince accused of plotting to undermine the federal government have been nonetheless being held incommunicado by safety forces on Tuesday, their family stated, casting doubt on earlier claims by the royal court docket that it had resolved an unusually public and bitter rift.
The royal court docket launched a press release on Monday saying that the prince, Hamzah bin Hussein, had pledged his loyalty to King Abdullah II, his older half brother. However Prince Hamzah’s chief of workers, Yasser Majali, and Mr. Majali’s cousin, Samir Majali, are nonetheless being held in an unknown location, in response to their household, which comes from one among Jordan’s essential tribes.
The 2 have been amongst 18 individuals arrested on Saturday, the day that the federal government claimed that the prince had been concerned in a plot to destabilize the dominion’s stability.
“Each time we name somebody, they are saying we are going to get again to you,” stated Abdullah Majali, Yasser’s brother, in an account corroborated by a second senior member of the Majali household. “We nonetheless don’t know the place they’re.”
Prince Hamzah himself was in his palace on Tuesday, with restricted entry to communication, in response to an individual briefed on his whereabouts. And the Jordanian authorities issued a gag order on Tuesday that barred Jordanian information retailers and social media customers from discussing the case.
The developments are the most recent twists in a royal feud that exploded into public view over the weekend, upending the household’s popularity for discretion and the nation’s picture as a uncommon haven of stability in a turbulent area.
Jordan is a key associate in regional counterterrorism missions, a base for American troops and plane, and a serious recipient of American assist. Bordering Syria, Iraq, Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, it’s thought-about an essential interlocutor in regional diplomacy — and a linchpin of any potential Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Over the weekend, the Jordanian authorities arrested a number of of Prince Hamzah’s workers members and associates, and accused the prince himself of working with a former senior royal aide and cupboard minister, Bassem Awadallah, to undermine the nation’s stability.
The federal government’s statements hinted that these arrested had been concerned in a foreign-backed coup try, however stopped in need of utilizing such direct language.
Prince Hamzah fired again with two movies by which he excoriated his brother’s authorities, however denied involvement in any plot and stated he was being held underneath home arrest — an allegation the federal government denied.
By Monday evening, tempers appeared to have calmed, because the royal palace launched a press release written within the prince’s identify by which he pledged to “stand behind His Majesty in his efforts to guard Jordan and its pursuits of the nation.”
However the uncertainty on Tuesday concerning the whereabouts of the Majalis and the prince himself advised that tensions had not utterly dissipated.
The federal government’s narrative was additionally positioned underneath query on Tuesday by the leak of a recording of a dialog final week between the prince and the top of the Jordanian navy, Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti.
Within the recording, which was obtained by The New York Occasions and different media retailers, the final seems to acknowledge that the prince had not personally moved towards the king, however had as a substitute attended social gatherings the place criticism of the federal government was made by others.
With coronavirus-related deaths on the rise in Jordan, the prince’s allies say he had attended extra wakes and funerals than traditional.
“Throughout these conferences, there was discuss concerning the authorities’s efficiency and the efficiency of the crown prince,” Common Huneiti stated, in response to the recording.
“This discuss got here from me?” replied Prince Hamzah.
“No,” the final stated. “From the individuals you have been assembly with. We each know, sir, this crossed the pink traces. Folks have begun talking out greater than they need to. Due to this fact, I hope his royal highness abides and refrains from attending such events.”
The Majali household expressed doubt that any family have been ever even ready to help a supposed plot to destabilize the dominion.
Samir Majali had met just some instances with Prince Hamzah for lunch, in his formal capability as a tribal elder, stated Samir’s cousin Hisham Majali.
Yasser had been convalescing at dwelling after a coronary heart assault adopted by a bout of the coronavirus, and had not been to work in a number of weeks, his brother, Abdullah Majali, stated.
Neither man had a connection to Mr. Awadallah, their family stated.
“They don’t even know him,” stated Abdullah. “It’s unacceptable that they might hyperlink their names.”
Many Jordanians additionally consider that Prince Hamzah himself and Mr. Awadallah can be unlikely co-conspirators. Prince Hamzah is carefully tied with Jordan’s Indigenous tribes, just like the Majalis, whereas Mr. Awadallah, a former head of the royal court docket, is likely one of the many Jordanian residents from households of Palestinian origin.
The pair have completely different views on financial and political coverage. And whereas Mr. Awadallah was typically a goal of presidency critics whereas he was in workplace, the prince presents himself as a proponent of fine governance.
