Jordan's Former Royal Court Chief Gets 15-Year Jail Term Over "Coup Plot"

Bassem Awadallah and an ex-envoy to Saudi Arabia, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, had been convicted of conspiring to topple Jordan's King Abdullah II in favour of his half-brother Prince Hamzah.

A Jordanian court on Monday sentenced two former officials to 15 years in jail over a palace coup attempt that sparked a crisis in a kingdom seen as a regional oasis of stability. Former royal court chief Bassem Awadallah and an ex-envoy to Saudi Arabia, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, had been convicted of conspiring to topple King Abdullah II in favour of his half-brother Prince Hamzah. The former crown prince himself was not on trial. But the 13-page charge sheet said Hamzah, 41, "was determined to fulfill his personal ambition to rule, in violation of the Hashemite constitution and customs".