In 1st comments on alleged plot, Jordan’s king says ‘sedition nipped in the bud’

Jordan’s King Abdullah breaks his silence to tell his nation that the worst political crisis in decades sparked by an alleged plot involving his half-brother Prince Hamzah is over.

“I assure you, that the sedition has been nipped in the bud,” Abdullah says in an address read out in his name on state television.

“The challenge of these last days was not the most dangerous for the stability of the country — but it was the most painful for me,” he says. “Nothing can come close to the shock and the pain and anger I felt, as a brother, and head of the Hashemite family and as a leader to this dear people.”

He adds that Prince Hamzah “is now with his family in his palace under my protection… He has committed before the [Hashemite] family to follow the path of his parents and grandparents, to be faithful to their message, and to place the interest of Jordan, its constitution and its laws above all other considerations.”