The two countries hold strong bilateral relations and a large population of Jordanians work and reside in Qatar.
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein on Sunday following news of internal instability in the Hashemite kingdom.
According to Doha’s state news agency [QNA], Sheikh Tamim expressed Qatar’s support and solidarity with Jordan in all decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah to preserve Amman’s security and stability.
Doha “stressed that the developed strategic relations between the two brotherly countries will remain an honest and strong guard against any attempts to undermine security and stability in the two countries and the region,” a later statement released by QNA said.
The show of support follows reports of an alleged attempted coup in Amman late on Saturday evening, which saw the arrest of Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, a former head of the royal court, as well as several others.
King Abdullah’s half-brother and former crown prince Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein was also rumoured to have been arrested for his alleged involvement in plots to destabilise the country. However, Jordanian press agency [PETRA] said he was merely questioned.
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PETRA, however, did say that Prince Hamzah was asked to “stop movements and activities that are targeting the security and stability of Jordan”.
Moments after news of his arrest surfaced, the Jordanian royal confirmed he is under house arrest, according to a video by the BBC.
A public investigation is underway and details of the probe will be revealed “in a transparent and clear form”, Jordanian army chief Yousef Huneiti added.
“No one is above the law and Jordan’s security and stability are above all,” he told PETRA.
Qatari-Jordanian bilateral ties
Doha and Amman share strong bilateral ties, with almost 60,000 Jordanians working in various sectors in Qatar including health, education, finance, hospitality, and information technology.
The two countries have also maintained economic ties over the past few years, with exports from Doha’s private sector to Jordan reaching $36 million last year.
The volume of Qatari investments in Jordan stands at about $ 1.6 billion, distributed in tourism services, banking, health and education. Qatari investments in the Amman Financial Market also stand at $1.5 billion.
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The two countries have also cooperated in the military field.
In 2019, King Abdullah met with Qatari Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah where they both signed bilateral cooperation agreements between Doha and Amman’s armed forces of the two countries.
In the same year, Jordan appointed Zaid Al-Lozi, secretary general of the country’s foreign ministry, as its ambassador to Doha.
Most recently in February last year, Sheikh Tamim travelled to Amman for a bilateral visit that saw the Qatari leader offer 10,000 new jobs for Jordanians and pledge $30 million in assistance to its military pension fund.
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