The Jordanian government made its first official comment April 4 on an unprecedented April 3 joint security operation by the armed forces and the departments of General Intelligence and the Public Security involving 14 to 16 Jordanians including the former crown prince and half-brother of reigning King Abdullah II, Prince Hamzah bin al Hussein.

Today Hamaza responded in a tweeted audio message, “I’m not going to obey when they say you can’t go out, you can’t tweet, you can’t communicate with people."

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi avoided using the term coup, which has appeared in the press. Instead he spoke of a conspiracy to “destabilize the kingdom.” He identified two main conspirators associated with Hamzah: Bassem Awadallah, former chief of the Royal Court and minister of planning and finance, and a previously unknown relative of the king, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid. Safadi said no one in the Jordanian military is accused of a role in the conspiracy.

Jordan has not faced a plot to destabilize the regime since 1957 and even then it did not involve a ranking member of the royal family. The revelations have shocked Jordanians. Earlier on April 3, a statement by the armed forces said that Hamzah was asked by Chief of the Joint Staff Maj. Gen. Yussef Al-Hunaiti to “cease activities and acts that are employed to target Jordan’s security and stability.” The move, Hunaiti said, came as part of joint investigations by the security agencies that led to the arrest of bin Zaid, Awadallah and others. He denied reports that the prince was under house arrest.