According to Arab sources, the Jordanian King Abdullah has placed under arrest two of his brothers and a cousin, accusing them of secret ties with the Saudi and UAE crown princes.
Jordanian intelligence reportedly alerted him to communications Princes Faisal bin Hussein, Ali bin Hussein and their cousin, Prince Talal bin Muhammed were maintaining with Saudi Prince Muhammed bin Salman (MbS) and the Emirati’s Prince Muhammed bin Zayed (MbZ), with whom King Abdullah is at loggerheads. A statement released by the Jordanian military said that the three princes took early retirement as part of military changes underway in the Jordanian Army, but made no reference to their detention. At the same time. none of them have been seen since their reported house arrest.
King Abdullah raised the ire of the Saudi and UAE leaders by cultivating close ties with Turkey and Qatar, strong opponents to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. On Dec. 16, DEBKAfile reported that the rift had peaked with the arrest of the Jordanian-Palestinian billionaire financier Sabih al-Masri while he was on a regular trip to Riyadh. To obtain his release, MbS and Mbz demanded that the Jordanian king break away from the Islamic bloc that the Turkish ruler and Qatar sought to establish to contest President Trump’s Jerusalem policy.
The three detained princes are senior members of the Hashemite Royal House of Jordan: Prince Faisal bin Hussein (55) is the son of King Hussein and Queen Muna and therefore Abdullah’s younger full brother. He has occasionally served as regent during the king’s absences abroad. Prince Ali 42) is the second son of Hussein and Queen Alia (who died in a helicopter accident) and is therefore the king’s half-brother. Prince Talal bin Muhammad (53), grandson of King Talal is a first cousin of King Abdullah.
@ Edgar G.:
Because I was puzzled I looked it up. The Faisal you mention must have been Lawrence’s pal’s grand-son. His son Ghazi succeeded him and Faisal 2 was his son. I’m glad you mentioned it because I had no recollection of it, was struggling to stay alive in Canada then and couldn’t afford to buy a paper.
@ ArnoldHarris:
He only looks “well groomed” in this picture and then only by comparison to the way he normally looks…which is like an untidy kinglet piglet, something like the Nth Viet. tub of lard, but without the overfed roundness..
Yes little Faisal was his great-grand uncle, the brother of Abdullah the first “king of Jordan. Faisal was Lawrence’s little “friend”.
What happened in Baghdad? I know he was kicked out, like he had been in Damascus but instead of a few months rule he lasted about 10 years; he ended up in Cyprus with his father Hussein of Hejaz, who I believe later went to Jordan. Maybe Faisal did too, can’t recall.
Every time I see a photograph of that well-groomed and ever-so-English face, I think of Alfie attempting to pretend he is really an Arab prince. And I surely think I know English faces. My late mother Amelia Jacobson Harris, was born and raised in Barrow-in-Furness.
I hope he doesn’t wind up like little Faisal in the dark streets of Baghdad that cruel night in July 1958. I think the two royal families were related, if I am not mistaken.
Arnold Harris, Outspeaker