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Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan. Former Jordanian Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has been placed under house arrest amid reports that the kingdom’s security forces have foiled a coup against King Abdullah II. At least 20 Jordanians have been arrested in connection with the alleged coup. According to The Washington Post, Hamzah was placed under restriction at his Amman palace amid an alleged plot to unseat King Abdullah II. “The move followed the discovery of what palace officials described as a complex and far-reaching plot that included at least one other Jordanian royal,...

Also swept up in the dragnet — according to observers and activists on social media — was Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, one-time crown prince and stepbrother to Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The monarch replaced him with his eldest son, Hussein, four years into his rule. State news later quoted an unnamed security official who denied reports that a 20-vehicle force had raided Hamzah’s home in a suburb of West Amman, placing him under house arrest and detaining members of his security detail and members of his staff. His head of office, Yasser Majali, was picked up after a heavily armed...

Israel and Jordan don’t have a cold peace, they have a jittery peace. The fragility of one of Israel’s most important regional allies – with whom security ties are often described as a cornerstone of regional stability – was underscored by a series of apparent tit-for-tat diplomatic price-tag attacks over the last 24 hours. On Wednesday, Israel prevented Hashemite Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah from visiting the Temple Mount. Jordan in retaliation refused on Thursday to authorize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flight path to the United Arab Emirates, causing the trip's cancelation. It's the latest diplomatic skirmish in a 26-year...

Erdogan was initially on the roster of speakers on the funeral — a list that includes a number of famous names, such as former president Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal. However, on Monday, Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell had said that two unnamed speakers had been added to the program, meaning that foreign guests Erdogan and King Abdullah II of Jordan would no longer be able to make an address. Gunnell told reporters that the two world leaders had been “gracious and understood.” But there were a number of suggestions that perhaps Erdogan had been removed from the list...

NBA basketball star Kobe Byrant and eight others dead in a helicopter crash but first..... Security sources in Iraq say five rockets hit in Baghdad's Green Zone Sunday evening with at least one direct hit on the US Embassy. The Embassy's cafeteria was hit in the attack.... Reporting on injuries varies with some saying one was injured and others three injured..... While Israel's major political party leaders (Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud and Benny Gantz of Blue and White) headed to Washington to hear about the "Deal of the Century" peace plan involving Israel and the Palestinians, a prominent Palestinian leader...

Security officials warn that annexing the Jordan Valley could jeopardize the peace treaty with Jordan, it was claimed tonight on Channel 12 News. In the"source's" estimation, King Abdullah will find it difficult to resist the pressure and will not be able to ignore protests and condemnations or mollify objections by returning the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv. Channel 12 says some fear that a wave of protests by the "Palestinians" would also stir a storm in Jordan and the King will be forced to suspend the peace treaty with Israel signed in 1994. .....

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and disgraced lying Congressman Adam Schiff met with King Abdullah of Jordan, only to find out that the King of Jordan agrees with President Trump’s Syria withdrawal, as well as his support for maintaining the Syrian border, Assad’s government, and Russia’s reinforcement. I guess they are not ready for prime time players. This last minute fishing expedition had two stops: Jordan to see a King, and Afghanistan to meet with the Taliban. This alleged bipartisan delegation lead by Pelosi and Schiff is really not bipartisan. Thornberry is the only Republican representative that joined the...

Amnesty International urges Jordan to stop imprisoning women for defying men, ignores root cause of the problem OCT 25, 2019 2:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER “Under the male ‘guardianship’ system, which Amnesty said is at the centre of a web of discriminatory provisions, men are empowered to control ‘women’s lives and limit their personal freedoms’, while women could be subjected to degrading practices such as ‘virginity tests’, aimed at determining whether they’ve had sex outside marriage.” All right. But where does this male guardianship system come from? From Islamic law: “[A] woman may not leave the city without her husband...

Jordan’s King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein shared an unusually flattering assessment of President Donald Trump on Monday, praising the president’s “humility” and “grace” during a visit to the White House. “If the rest of the world just took a little bit of your humility and your grace, we’d be in a lot better position,” Abdullah said. Trump thanked Abdullah for the compliment, pointing out to the press that he used the word “humility” to describe him. “I’m happy with that word,” Trump grinned. “It’s probably the nicest compliment I’ve been given in a long time.” Trump praised the king of...

Islam is “not a religion of hate,” Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a recent interview, arguing that there was perhaps a “lack of understanding” of the religion in Washington. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria asked Abdullah — in an interview filmed in Davos last month but aired on Sunday — about President Trump’s stated view during the 2016 election campaign that “I think Islam hates us.” “By ‘us,’ I think he meant America,” Zakaria said. “In your conversations with President Trump, have you tried to persuade him that that was not the case?” “Absolutely, to all Americans,” Abdullah replied. “And whether I’m...

Pope Francis will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the Vatican next week, the Holy See announced on Friday, as Palestinians continue to clash with Israeli forces over US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. […] The pope and King Abdullah, the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, are likely to discuss the situation, though the Vatican never indicates topics of discussion for such meetings in advance. On Sunday, the pope called for “respect of the status quo” in Jerusalem and warned against “a new spiral of violence”. Abdullah has denounced the...

I met Mudar Zahran, currently the Secretary General of the Jordan Opposition Coalition (JOC), some six years ago and have kept closely in touch with him over the years.  I watched the JOC being formed and take shape, just as I watched their plan Operation Jordan is Palestine (OJIP) take shape. The goal of the later is: “To establish Jordan as the Palestinian homeland, in accordance with international law, where refugees will be settled within safe and secure borders, allowing Israel to become a fully recognized, sovereign state over all of its soil, including all land west of the Jordan...

King Abdullah of Jordan is part of the mid-east freedom alliance with President Fattah Abdel el-Sisi of Egypt. Due to President Obama’s extremist politics, Abdullah and Sisi formed a working security and economic relationship with Vladimir Putin.Prior to taking the oath of office President Trump spoke personally to President el-Sisi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since the inauguration – The geo-strategic evolution continues -> President Vladimir Putin (Russia), President Fattah el-Sisi (Egypt) and King Salman (Saudi Arabia) have all held diplomatic and strategic discussions with President Trump.Now today:[From the Office of the Vice President] The Vice President hosted His Majesty...

Jordan’s King Abdullah warned Israel would find itself in “a sea of hatred” if it did not accept a Palestinian state, while also condemning Muslim terrorists from the United Nations rostrum Tuesday. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abdullah spoke of the importance of peace between Israel and Palestinians, blaming the ongoing conflict for continued unrest in the region. “No injustice has spread more bitter fruit than the denial of a Palestinian state. I say: Peace is a conscious decision,” the king said. “Israel has to embrace peace or eventually be engulfed in a sea of hatred...

Tuesday at a news conference in Kosovo’s capital city Priština, King Abdullah of Jordan declared the planet was in the midst of a Third World War.

Protests in support of the current Palestinian Arab “intifada” and against Israel continue in Jordan. On Friday, immediately after weekly prayers in the mosques, a massive rally was held in the city of Zarqa, east of Amman. The protesters, who responded to calls from the Islamic Movement, waved Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags and expressed support for the “Palestinian struggle”. Ayman Abu al-Rub, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Jordan, congratulated the young people involved in the intifada, and said that the intifada would continue despite the machinations and efforts to stop it, and stressed that the Jordanian people...

Once it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias, and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the agenda after the Assad regime is restored. For those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you to read “Who Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,” in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.The US allows this because i) there’s...

AMMAN, Jordan — Just after nightfall Feb. 3, a warrant arrived at the city’s main women’s prison for the execution of Sajida al-Rishawi. The instructions had come from King Abdullah II himself, then in Washington on a state visit, and were transmitted from his private plane to the royal court in Jordan’s capital. A clerk relayed the message to the Interior Ministry and then to the prisons department, where it caused a stir. State executions are complicated affairs requiring many steps, yet the king’s wishes were explicit: The woman would face the gallows before the sun rose the next day.

The Middle East and North Africa region is in turmoil from Iraq to Yemen and from Syria to Libya, but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned Sunday of an “explosion” unless the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is broken. Speaking in Ramallah, he said both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah had expressed that view to him during talks with them over the weekend. Fabius was speaking after meeting with Palestinian Authority (P.A.) chairman Mahmoud Abbas during an intensive regional trip designed to push a French initiative to secure a U.N. Security Council resolution laying out the basis...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow on Monday where the issue of Middle East peace talks will be raised, Russian authorities announced Thursday. “The two leaders will hold talks concerning key aspects of Russian-Palestinian relations and their future, with particular attention on the trade, economy and humanitarian sectors,” the Kremlin said in a statement according to AFP. There will also be “an exchange of ideas on the process of Israeli-Palestinian talks and other problematic regional situations,” the statement continued, adding that North Africa would also be on the agenda. …