AMMAN, Jordan (AP) —The half-brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah says he has been placed under house arrest by Jordanian authorities, accusing the country’s leadership of corruption and incompetence.
In a videotaped statement leaked to the British Broadcasting Corp., Prince Hamzah said he was visited early Saturday by the country’s military chief and told “I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them.”
He said his security detail was removed, and his phone and Internet service had been cut. He said he was speaking over satellite Internet, but expected that service to be cut as well. The BBC says it received the statement from Hamzah’s lawyer.
In the statement, Hamzah said he had been informed he was being punished for taking in part in meetings in which the king had been criticized, though he himself was not accused of being a direct critic.
He said he told the army chief: “I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, for the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse by the year. I am not responsible for the lack of faith that people have in their institutions. They are responsible.”