What’s happening in Jordan?

King Abdullah II of Jordan has announced that Princes Ali, Faisal and Talal are retiring from their military offices.

Prince Ali ben Al Hussein is the son of the former King Hussein and his third wife. He was the head of the Royal Guard. Whilst the United States was dreaming of re-establishing the monarchy in Iraq, Prince Ali had married a CNN journalist, Rym Brahimi. The latter is the daughter of Lakhdar Brahimi, who was at the time the UN Special Representative in Iraq. He was one of the organizers of the coup d’etat against the Islamists in Algeria. But the US policy changed and power was transferred to an interim republican government. Furthermore, Prince Ali is the President of the Jordan Football Federation and has stood several times as a candidate, each time unsuccessfully, for the position of Fifa President.

Prince Faisal bin Hussein (in the background in the photo) is the son of King Hussein and his second wife. He was the Joint Chief of Staffs and, also, a member of the International Olympic Committee. Prince Faisal acted as King when King Abdullah II was travelling abroad.

Prince Talal bin Muhammad is the King’s cousin. He was recently appointed Director of the National Security Council.

Officially, the three princes retired and have received an honorary promotion. In actual fact, they have been placed under house arrest.

The palace has imposed a publication ban on this “promotion” and has threatened anyone who would present the events as an attack on the integrity of the Royal Family.

According to the Arab Press, the two princes (Ali and Faisal) have attempted a coup d’etat with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Jordanian Royal Family is very close to the United Kingdom which is currently trying to reorganize the alliances across the Middle East against Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.