Jordanian king thwarts Saudi-backed coup, sacks brothers from Army

King Abdullah of Jordan dismissed three members of the royal family including two of his brothers from the Army in a major shake-up in the establishment with sources saying the dismissed individuals were planning a coup.

The coup plotters had contacted de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammad bin Zayed Ale Nahyan.

King Abdullah has decided to retire his brothers, prince Faisal and Ali from the Army, citing a 'restructuring' plan, Petra news agency reported.

His cousin prince Talal has also been dismissed after a long service as a commander in the special service. The three are now reportedly under house arrest.

The development came as Abdullah prepares his eldest son, Crown prince Hussein to take on a more prominent role following his recent graduation from the top British military academy, Sandhurst.

Recently, Jordan has been moving away from Saudi Arabia and getting closer to Turkey in ongoing regional political realignments much to the chagrin of bin Salman.

The Jordanian monarch is reportedly under intense Saudi-US pressure to accept US President Donald Trump's declaration on al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime. Jordan has so far sided with majority of Muslim states in rejecting Trump’s al-Quds declaration and this explains why the Jordanian king was present at the OIC summit in Istanbul despite being under huge pressure to boycott it. The summit was boycotted by Saudi Arabia, the host of the OIC headquarters, which only sent a junior foreign ministry official.

EA