Jordanian king’s properties undercut father figure image

By JOSEF FEDERMAN

JERUSALEM (AP) — Jordan’s King Abdullah II was gathering with the World Bank president, asking for much fiscal enactment for his country’s battered economy, conscionable astir the clip the quality broke: A trove of leaked documents revealed the king had secretly bought much than a twelve luxury homes successful the U.S. and Britain for implicit $100 cardinal successful the past decade.

Abdullah was 1 of scores of nationalist figures identified arsenic holders of hidden offshore accounts. But possibly obscurity was determination a much evident contradiction betwixt the nationalist antheral and the backstage one, for the king has cautiously cultivated an representation arsenic a caring begetter of a struggling nation, and it turns retired helium has amassed an empire of luxury existent estate.

“Nobody’s going to crook a unsighted oculus to this,” said Dave Harden, a erstwhile elder authoritative astatine the U.S. Agency for International Development who is present moving for Congress arsenic a Democrat successful Maryland. He said adjacent a cognition of misspending could pb to calls for greater oversight of aboriginal American assistance to Jordan.

Abdullah was connected a agelong database of satellite leaders, politicians, billionaires, celebrities, spiritual leaders and cause dealers who person been hiding their investments successful mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and different assets for the past quarter-century, according to a study Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The report, based connected a reappraisal of astir 12 cardinal files obtained from 14 firms astir the world, was dubbed the “Pandora Papers.” There were nary allegations of amerciable enactment oregon misuse of planetary assistance money.

Still, the study came astatine a delicate clip for Abdullah. The country’s system has struggled successful caller years, and his enactment came nether scrutiny earlier this twelvemonth erstwhile his half-brother accused the “ruling class” of corruption. Seen by the West arsenic a unit of moderation and stableness successful the volatile Middle East, Abdullah relies connected billions of dollars of planetary assistance — a travel that could beryllium disrupted if donors judge their assistance is being squandered.

Abdullah angrily denied immoderate wrongdoing, saying the homes had been kept concealed due to the fact that of information concerns and were purchased with idiosyncratic funds.

“Any allegations that nexus these backstage properties to nationalist funds oregon assistance are baseless and deliberate attempts to distort facts,” a connection from the Royal Hashemite Court said Monday.

It called immoderate specified suggestions “defamatory and designed to people Jordan’s estimation arsenic good arsenic his majesty’s credibility.”

In the abbreviated term, Abdullah does not look to look immoderate menace astatine home. When his half-brother, Crown Prince Hamzah, leveled his accusations of corruption and incompetence past April, helium was rapidly placed nether location arrest.

Hamzah has been seen successful nationalist conscionable erstwhile since past and remains incommunicado. Two erstwhile apical aides, meanwhile, person been sentenced to 15-year situation presumption for incitement and sedition implicit their roles successful an alleged crippled with Hamzah.

In an evident motion of concern, the Jordanian media, astir of which is straight oregon indirectly controlled by the palace, made nary notation of the Pandora Papers affair. Even autarkic Jordanian media outlets prosecute successful self-censorship, avoiding disapproval of the royal household and information forces.

Jordan’s system has fallen onto hard times implicit the past decade, deed by an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing warfare successful neighboring Syria and, much recently, by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the World Bank, Jordan’s system contracted somewhat past year, portion unemployment spiked to 25%. The state of 10 cardinal is divided betwixt a tiny mediate and precocious people with adjacent ties to the government, and impoverished masses surviving successful metropolis slums, outlying villages and exile camps.

“When anyone lives successful hardship, hard conditions and utmost poverty, it is hard to spot their rulers surviving successful prosperous conditions,” said Maisara Malas, a national activistic who has joined antigovernment protests seeking little taxes and an extremity to corruption.

Abdullah, who took powerfulness successful 1999 aft the decease of his father, King Hussein, has sought to straddle these worlds by portraying himself arsenic begetter figure.

He is cautious not to flaunt his wealth. Though helium spends lengthy periods overseas, helium does truthful quietly, often astatine undisclosed locations.

He meets with almighty tribal leaders successful Jordan’s hinterlands to underscore his section roots. Posters successful authorities offices and connected billboards often amusement the king wearing a reddish Arab headdress oregon subject uniform.

Last year, his then-prime minister, Omar Razzaz, launched an effort to ace down connected taxation evasion, corruption and “smuggling wealth into taxation havens.”

On Monday, the king paid a sojourn to tribal leaders and different dignitaries successful Badia, a portion southbound of the superior Amman, wherever helium said Jordan was being threatened by destabilizing forces.

“There is simply a run against Jordan, and determination are inactive those who privation to sabotage and physique suspicions,” helium said. “There is thing to hide.”

Labib Kamhawi, a Jordanian analyst, said that fixed the media blackout and deficiency of net usage among the poorest, helium did not spot immoderate contiguous menace to the king. But helium said that arsenic connection of the ungraded spread, it could beryllium “very damaging” domestically.

But possibly much troubling, helium said, is that it could choler donor nations. According to Jordan’s authoritative Petra News Agency, the state received immoderate $5 cardinal successful overseas assistance past year, some successful unrestricted fund assistance and specially earmarked grants. More than a 4th of that wealth came from the U.S. alone.

“It is bound to impact the quality of Jordan to solicit assistance easily,” Kamhawi said.

As a strategical Western state and with a bid statement with Israel, Jordan remains excessively important to beryllium abandoned by the planetary community. President Joe Biden this twelvemonth called Abdullah a “loyal and decent friend.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price would not remark specifically connected Abdullah’s existent property holdings but said: “When it comes to our assistance to Jordan, we person been helping to amended the lives of the Jordanian radical for implicit six decades. We cautiously behaviour monitoring and valuation of each of our assistance programs to guarantee they’re implemented according to their intended purpose.”

Price said that American assistance to Jordan is successful the nationalist information involvement of the United States, due to the fact that it helps the state unafraid its borders, beforehand stableness and enactment successful countering the Islamic State group.

Harden, the erstwhile U.S. assistance official, said it is simply a communal interest successful the assemblage that assistance ends up being misused and helping corrupt leaders alternatively of mundane people. He said to debar that, wealth is often earmarked for circumstantial improvement projects and tightly supervised.

He predicted a “serious review” of immoderate unrestricted assistance to Jordan but said helium expects wealth to proceed to travel to programs with choky safeguards. Even so, helium said the disclosures successful the Pandora Papers look atrocious for the king.

“It cuts against the halfway of what we are trying to achieve,” helium said.