Jordan’s Prince Hamzah Bin Al-Hussein in a 2015 photo (KHALIL MAZRAAWI / AFP) Among those under arrest are a former close aide to the royal family, Bassem Awadallah, chief of the royal court in 2007-08, and Sherif Hassan bin Zaid, a former special envoy to Saudi Arabia. What were their aims? Even though the Washington Post quoting US intelligence sources said there had been an attempted coup, analysts say that seems unlikely. “It is impossible to prepare a coup d’etat without the support of the main army units and the security and intelligence services. And all these forces are behind the king,” said Oraib Al-Rantawi, an analyst with the Al-Quds Centre for Policy Studies.