Amman flatly rejects that King Abdullah removed his brothers from top military jobs due to seditious contact with Saudis
Jordan’s royal court has threatened legal action against “websites and social media outlets [for] publish[ing] rumors and fabricated news” claiming King Abdullah II relieved family members from top military positions over alleged seditious communications with high-ranking Gulf officials.
According to a December 29 report by the Al Sura Middle East website, Abdullah placed his brothers, Prince Faisal and Prince Ali, along with his cousin, Prince Talal, under house arrest. This, after the Jordanian intelligence services purportedly exposed secret contacts between the three and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman as well as senior leaders in the Emirates, allegedly geared towards fomenting a coup.
By contrast, the royal court issued a statement, one day after the report, stressing that Abdullah’s kin simply retired from the armed forces as part of a greater military reorganization. Faisal was head of the Jordanian Air Force and deputy chief of staff, while Ali had for years been in charge of the royal guards responsible for the king’s protection. Talal was an officer in the special forces. They were all given honorary promotions.
Jordanian Member of Parliament Yahya Al-Saud scoffed at the Al Sura report, noting that Prince Faisal was recently made acting king for two weeks while Abdullah was out of the country. “This report is totally rejected by Jordanians, who will never believe or react to such lies,” he affirmed to The Media Line.
For his part, Mohammed Iqtashat, Director of the Media Authority in Jordan, described the report as “fake news” and confirmed it did not originate in Jordan. When contacted by The Media Line, he praised the Jordanian press for the role it played in calming the public and reiterated that anyone involved in spreading such rumors would be prosecuted.
Saudi political analyst Khalid Bin Ali explained that the latest rumors about the Jordanian royal family follow a series of media attacks against moderate Arab nations, which have lined up against Iran and Qatar. “Anything that happens in Saudi Arabia or has to do with the kingdom is amplified,” he told to The Media Line. “For example, many accused Saudi Arabia of detaining Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and it wasn’t true.”
Jordan has long been viewed as a neutral and well-regarded state within a region prone to conflict. It is one of the few Arab countries that is not actively involved in the wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and provides shelter to a large number of refugees who have fled these conflicts. According to the 2017 Gallup Law and Order study, Jordan is the ninth safest country in the world and the second safest among Arab nations.
Saleh al-Armouty, a Jordanian parliamentarian, claimed to The Media Line that the report was intended to damage the kingdom. “Whoever is behind it, is trying to heat up the situation in the country to serve a Western agenda.
“They are aiming to weakening Jordan’s role in the Middle East,” he concluded.