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Bassem Awadallah, a longtime confidant of the king, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a former royal envoy, were arrested along with other unnamed figures, according to state media.
Jordanian security forces arrested a former adviser to King Abdullah and others on “security-related” grounds, the Petra state news agency reported.
Bassem Awadallah, a longtime confidant of the king who later became finance minister, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a former royal envoy, were arrested along with other unnamed figures, Petra said on Saturday.
He gave no further details and said an investigation was underway.
The Petra News Agency denied reports that Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, former crown prince and half-brother of King Abdullah of Jordan, had been detained or under house arrest.
Arrest of Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, Basem Awad Allah and others for security reasonshttps://t.co/3SzKcWHzln#Petra
– Jordanian News Agency (@Petranews) April 3, 2021
Arrests of senior officials close to members of the royal family are rare in Jordan.
Awadallah, who was a driving force behind economic reforms before stepping down as head of the royal court in 2008, has long faced stubborn resistance from an old guard and a entrenched bureaucracy that thrived for years. thanks to government benefits.
The powerful Jordanian intelligence agency, with pervasive influence in public life, has played a larger public role since the introduction of emergency laws at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, which civic groups say , violate civil and political rights.
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