Jordan tribes, bedrock of monarchy, on edge as economy tanks

Jordan has drawn a curtain of secrecy on the unprecedented public rift within its royal family

KARAK, Jordan -- Jordan has drawn a curtain of secrecy on the unprecedented public rift within its royal family, but the social tensions laid bare by the palace drama that unfolded in April — particularly the economic despair of its influential tribes — can be seen everywhere. Years of economic crisis have frayed the historic patronage-for-loyalty bond between the king and the tribes, a bedrock of the Hashemite family's decades-long rule. That may have been an underlying factor in an alleged plot by the half brother of King Abdullah II to try to take a throne he was once in line to inherit. The prince has been silenced, and his purported co-conspirators are on trial behind closed doors. But even some government insiders fear that anger percolating under the surface could erupt at any moment, a warning bound to worry the kingdom's Western allies.