CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) The half-brother of King Abdullah II of Jordan, former crown prince Hamzah bin Al-Hussein, says he is under house arrest and has been forbidden to communicate with people outside of his home.
"I had a visit from the chief of general staff of the Jordanian armed forces this morning in which he informed me that I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them because in the meetings that I had been present in - or on social media relating to visits that I had made - there had been criticism of the government or the king," Prince Hamzah said in a video recorded on Saturday and circulated by British and Arabic media.
Prince Hamzah said he was able to post the video, recorded in English, thanks to satellite internet which had not been cut off yet at his home where he is alone with his wife and young children.
"My security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut, this is my last form of communication, satellite internet, and I have been informed by the company that they had been instructed to cut it, so this may be the last time I am able to communicate," Prince Hamzah said.
He said a number of his friends, people he knows, have been arrested, but stressed that he himself was not being accused of making criticism against Jordan's ruling structures. Nonetheless, Prince Hamzah went on to accuse the government of corruption.
"I am making this recording to make it clear that I am not part of any conspiracy or an affairious organization or foreign pact group as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out," he said, adding "I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse by the year. And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions."
State media reported citing Jordan's armed forces on Saturday that former Jordanian crown prince Hamzah was told to halt actions undermining national security. Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, was quoted as saying by the Petra news agency that King Abdullah's half-brother was asked to cease "movements and activities that are used to target" the security and stability of Jordan.
Petra reported earlier that Hassan bin Zaid, another member of the royal family, and the king's confidant Basem Ibrahim Awadallah had been arrested for security reasons. However, Huneiti denied that Prince Hamzah had been arrested.
Hamzah was named crown prince of Jordan in 1999, but at the time of his father's, King Hussein's, death it was Hamzah's half-brother, King Abdullah, who took the throne. King Abdullah stripped Hamzah of the title of crown prince in 2004.
