AMMAN (MEMO/Middle East Eye) – Jordanian Crown Prince, Prince al-Hussein Bin Abdullah II, was sworn in on Thursday as deputy king.
Al-Mamlaka quoted local sources as saying that the prince had taken the constitutional oath “in the presence of the ministry body” to cover the duties of the king during his absence from the kingdom.
The sources added that the Jordanian king had left “on a private visit with his wife, Queen Rania,” adding that they would later head on a “working visit to the United States.”
Twenty-seven-year-old al-Hussein is the king’s eldest son.
The swearing-in ceremony comes weeks after former crown prince Hamzah bin Hussein renounced his royal title in early April.
Hamzah had been in a tit-for-tat row with his brother King Abdullah, accusing the monarch of ineptitude in tackling corruption in the country.
Last year, Hamzah was put under house arrest after Jordanian authorities foiled an attempt to destabilize the country. Eighteen suspects were arrested then, including former royal court chief Bassem Awadallah.
Hamzah later apologized in a public letter to King Abdullah for his actions and pledged allegiance to the constitution.
Meanwhile, Walid al-Kurdi, the uncle of Jordan’s king, was sentenced to 18 years of hard labour and fined $268m by a Jordanian court.
Kurdi, 77, is married to King Abdullah’s aunt Princess Basma bint Talal. He was tried in absentia on corruption charges relating to his tenure as CEO and chairman of the state-owned mining company Jordan Phosphate Mines (JPMC).
In June 2013, with Kurdi living in self-imposed exile in London, a Jordanian court sentenced him to 37 and a half years of hard labor, imposed a $378.8m fine, and froze his assets in the country.
On Wednesday, a court in Amman heard 27 witnesses give evidence about investment contracts for Shidiya mine, near the city of Maan. Kurdi was accused of corruption and abusing his position as CEO and chairman.