Arrest of MBS ally in Jordan stirs unease in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia fervently denies involvement in Jordan's royal feud, but the arrest of an advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has stirred unease in Riyadh, which sources say is pushing for his release.
Bassem Awadallah, seen as an influential figure familiar
with the inner workings of the Saudi leadership, was ensnared in a rift within
Jordan's royal family that played out in full public glare.
Riyadh officially threw its support behind Jordan's King
Abdullah II, who has sought to draw a line under the damaging row with his
half-brother Prince Hamzah as state television showed them together on Sunday
for the first time since the crisis erupted.
Saudi officials dismiss speculation it was behind the split,
insisting that such royal infighting could have dangerous ripple effects for
other monarchies in the tinderbox region. The speculation arose as Jordan
suggested a "foreign" hand was behind the crisis, with observers
immediately pointing the finger of suspicion at Riyadh.
The crisis followed media reports that warming Saudi-Israel
ties could cost Jordan -- home to a large Palestinian population -- its
custodianship of Jerusalem's holy sites including Al-Aqsa mosque, a key source
of legitimacy for Amman's ruling Hashemite dynasty.
But a source close to the leadership of Saudi Arabia, no
stranger to royal ructions, told AFP that Riyadh has "zero interest in
destabilising Jordan", a longstanding regional ally. Saudi Foreign
Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan led a delegation to Amman last week to
express what he called solidarity with Abdullah.
The trip came, the source said, as Saudi rulers felt
"the (Jordanian) king was being fed rumours by other parties that they
needed to refute in person and not over the phone". 'Hurting image' But
further intensifying speculation about Saudi motives, two sources privy to the
discussions said the delegation in Amman pushed for Awadallah's release. Awadallah,
a Saudi-Jordanian, has appeared alongside Prince Mohammed at Riyadh's
Davos-style Future Investment Initiative.
He has also been photographed praying beside the prince,
known by his initials MBS, an honour usually reserved for his closest confidantes.
Awadallah, a contentious figure in Jordan who has served as
head of its royal court and also special envoy to Saudi Arabia, is among at
least 16 people arrested in connection with what Amman has described as a plot
to destabilise the country. "Not only did the (Saudi) foreign minister go
to get Bassem, the Saudi intelligence director and MBS's chief of staff went to
Amman," Bruce Riedel, a former long-time American CIA officer now with the
Brookings Institution, told AFP.
The Saudi source denied the delegation was there for
Awadallah, without saying which officials were part of the team.
"Awadallah has a personal relationship with the crown prince," a
Gulf-based Western official told AFP. "Having him in jail is hurting the
Saudi image both in Jordan and abroad as suspicions about Saudi involvement are
not totally erased.
Bessma Momani, a professor at Canada's University of
Waterloo, said Awadallah was important to the Saudis as he has "working
knowledge of many Saudi economic plans, policies and strategies that they would
like to ensure are not shared" outside the kingdom. 'Hamzah episodes'
Jordanian officials have not specified the charges against Awadallah. But his
arrest appears to be a red herring in the entire feud which broke out earlier
this month, the Western official said.
What Jordanian authorities initially called a foreign plot
has turned out to be a bitter squabble between the king and his half-brother,
whom he had stripped of the title of crown prince in favor of his son.
"Awadallah's arrest diverts attention from the rivalry
inside the Jordanian royal family and hints at a possible foreign
involvement," the Western official said. The troubles in Jordan echo
similar power plays in Saudi Arabia, where King Salman sidelined a senior royal
in 2017 to name his young son, Prince Mohammed, as heir to the Arab world's
most powerful throne.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has ignored an outcry from human
rights campaigners as it detained multiple royal family members in a sweeping
crackdown, including the ousted former crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef.
"It remains to be seen whether King Abdullah has the will and or the
power/authority to shut his brother down, but a failure to do so will weaken
the monarchy, maybe fatally," Ali Shihabi, a Saudi government advisor,
wrote on Twitter.
"This explains why King Salman (a strong and
experienced leader) has been so firm with his family during the succession to
Crown Prince MBS. "Failure to have done that could have exposed Saudi to
multiple 'Hamzah episodes'."
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