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After Family Mediation, Jordan's Prince Hamza Pledges Loyalty to King Abdullah

Jordan's King Abdullah (2nd R), Queen Noor (R), and Queen Rania (L) posing for a picture with Prince Hamza, and his new wife Princess Basma Otoum during their wedding ceremony in Amman. (AFPPetra)
Jordan's King Abdullah (2nd R), Queen Noor (R), and Queen Rania (L) posing for a picture with Prince Hamza, and his new wife Princess Basma Otoum during their wedding ceremony in Amman. (AFPPetra)
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After Family Mediation, Jordan's Prince Hamza Pledges Loyalty to King Abdullah

Jordan's King Abdullah (2nd R), Queen Noor (R), and Queen Rania (L) posing for a picture with Prince Hamza, and his new wife Princess Basma Otoum during their wedding ceremony in Amman. (AFPPetra)
Jordan's King Abdullah (2nd R), Queen Noor (R), and Queen Rania (L) posing for a picture with Prince Hamza, and his new wife Princess Basma Otoum during their wedding ceremony in Amman. (AFPPetra)

Jordan's Prince Hamza pledged allegiance to King Abdullah II on Monday as the monarch accepted mediation over a rift within the royal family that saw the prince placed under house arrest, the palace said.

The government has accused Hamza, an ex-crown prince and half-brother of King Abdullah, of a "wicked" plot and involvement in a seditious conspiracy to "destabilize the kingdom's security".

Hamza, detained along with at least 16 others, had earlier struck a defiant tone saying he had been placed under house arrest inside his Amman palace, but insisting he would not obey orders restricting his movement.

But in an apparent easing of the palace turmoil, the 41-year-old prince pledged his backing to King Abdullah.

"I will remain... faithful to the legacy of my ancestors, walking on their path, loyal to their path and their message and to His Majesty," he said in a signed letter, quoted by the palace.

"I will always be ready to help and support His Majesty the King and his Crown Prince," he is quoted as writing.

Hamza's statement came shortly after the palace said Abdullah had agreed to enter mediation "to handle the question of Prince Hamza within the framework of the Hashemite (ruling) family".

The job of mediator was handed to his uncle, Prince Hassan, himself a former heir to the throne.

King Abdullah, 59, named Hamza crown prince in 1999, in line with their father's dying wish, but later stripped him of the title and named his own son Prince Hussein heir to the throne.

Washington, Gulf countries, Egypt and the Arab League have all pledged support for King Abdullah, and a similar message came from Russia on Monday.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday reiterated Washington's backing of Abdullah.

"We value his integrity, his vision," Price told reporters. "The king has our full support."

"This sedition was nipped in the bud," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday, charging the plotters had linked up with foreign parties.

Safadi declined to identify the alleged foreign parties, but he said an individual "with links to foreign intelligence services" had offered to fly Hamza's wife out of the country.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.