Mahmoud Al Sharaan - Amman
The dismissal of Jordanian King Abdullah II of his special envoy to Saudi Arabia, Bassem Awadallah, cannot be considered a normal event or a decision isolated from the scene of the region, according to what Jordanian officials see.
Who is Bassem Awad Allah?
Basem Awadallah is considered the most controversial in Jordan, due to his association with the economic transformation program when he held the position of Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, and after that he served as head of the Jordanian Royal Court.
Awadallah's relationship was extended to the Saudi royal palace, as he is considered a close friend and advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman, which was evident during the period of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, according to official Jordanian sources who refused to reveal her identity.
His association with Mohammed bin Salman did not just stop, after completing his project in Jordan, he went to the Emirates, where he was appointed as a member of the Dubai School of Government Board of Directors in 2008.
After that, Awadallah joined a Saudi establishment run by Saudi businessman Saleh Kamel, who was arrested by bin Salman as part of his crackdown on businessmen and princes.
Then he moved to work as executive director of the Emirati "Tamouh" company based in Dubai, in addition to his membership in the board of directors of Al Baraka Islamic Banking Group in Bahrain, according to Jordanian sources.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz during his meeting with Awad Allah during one of the latter's visits to Riyadh (Saudi Press - Archive)
The overthrow and the Khashoggi case
Awadallah did not last long as an envoy to Saudi Arabia, as a Jordanian royal decree was issued to relieve him of his duties recently, which sparked widespread controversy in the Jordanian street, as his removal or overthrow came two days after the Jordanian king's visit to the American capital, Washington.
Writer and political analyst Hassan Al-Barari expects that the king has learned or reached a conclusion in Washington that the future of Mohammed bin Salman is in the wind, and therefore he wanted to distance himself from this Saudi scene by exempting Basem Awad Allah from his work directly with bin Salman, as one of his main advisers. Consequently, the king is not concerned that there should be a link between him and the mandate of the Covenant that has become in the wind.
The former head of the Jordanian court, Jawad Al-Anani, agrees with Al-Barari, as he believes that there are political interpretations saying that "Jordan wants to fortify itself by being neutral if changes take place in Saudi Arabia in the future, in addition to that there is a gradual move away from Saudi Arabia."
"Many world leaders in Europe and elsewhere have begun to feel that betting on the current situation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is futile, and perhaps King Abdullah II began with this, so he wanted to show Jordan's position by ending Awad Allah's mission in anticipation of a specific event," Al-Anani continues to Al-Jazeera Net.
It is noteworthy that the Jordanian government emphasized, when the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi emerged, "the importance of the steps taken by the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with regard to investigations" in the case, according to an official statement.
However, the Jordanian writer Omar Al-Ayasrah confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that "the king has information from the American political community about bin Salman's future after the Khashoggi murder case."
Awadallah had directed a public question to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, about the case of Khashoggi's killing during his management of the first session of the Davos Desert Conference, which prompted bin Salman to respond to the question, which was his first and last statement in the case.
Al-Anani raises a number of questions about Awadallah's role in Saudi Arabia, saying, "How can he be the director of discussion sessions at the development conference in Riyadh that the king attended? How can he ask, answer and debate while he is affiliated with Jordan as a special envoy? If he works with another person as a consultant, is this?" What does it mean for him to leave the required performance in dealing? "
King Salman receives King Abdullah of Jordan and appears in the picture in the name of Awadallah, advisor to the Saudi crown prince and former head of the Jordanian royal court (Saudi Press - Archive)
In a Jordanian cloak, the Jordanian
king’s special envoy came in an attempt to heal the rift in Jordanian-Saudi relations, after Jordan was excluded from the Gulf Cooperation Council conference in 2016, which was held in Riyadh in the presence of the King of Morocco, and before that the Jordanian king’s conservative position on "Decisive Storm", who believed that there must be a solution Politician to the Yemen Crisis.
The Saudi-Jordanian bilateral relations subsequently needed a special envoy with a network of relations with the Saudi palace, which necessitated Awadallah's return to the limelight in order to draw closer to the country of the Two Holy Mosques, to succeed in converging views between the two countries, according to what observers describe.
Shortly thereafter, the two countries signed an agreement to establish a joint coordination council to oversee the Saudi Investment Fund's investments in Jordan, as well as Saudi grants and financial aid to the Kingdom.
However, Awadallah did not produce anything clear for the fund, while he gives himself credit for bringing the fund in so that Saudi Arabia chooses the projects it deems appropriate.
Al-Anani, who was working as Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, says, "We submitted and implemented a special law, and there is now a signature to establish a company, but nothing happened," adding that nothing will happen, and there were no attempts to get it. "So this case was considered as if it did not even succeed. His history. "
Al-Barari also confirms that not a single penny entered the fund, despite its age from two and a half to three years.
The political analyst - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - suggests that there is some kind of frustration for King Abdullah about Awadallah's performance or his seriousness in working in favor of Jordan, as he is the king's envoy in the royal court in Saudi Arabia, but he works on bin Salman's agendas and not on the king's.
As for Basem Awad Allah, he refused to speak to Al Jazeera Net about the details of ending his duties as a Jordanian envoy to Saudi Arabia, despite repeated attempts to do so.
On his refusal, political analyst Hassan Al-Barari comments that Awadallah addresses the effects of the destruction that has occurred, and the last thing he wants is to go to the media;
Because he knows that the media in Jordan in particular is not a friend to him, and that he watches him and considers him the most important cause of problems in his country's economy, and God willing, he knows that well, and he may prefer that it not be an issue for Jordanian public opinion and that his case fades within a few days. This may be his bet, according to Al-Barari.