'Nothing secretive' about Jordan king's real estate, FM says

AMMAN – Jordan’s overseas curate connected Thursday pushed backmost against a study that the country’s monarch, King Abdullah II, went retired of his mode to fell the acquisition of much than a twelve luxury homes worthy much than $106 million, saying determination was "nothing secretive” astir the transactions.

Ayman Safadi besides told The Associated Press that nary of the billions of dollars of planetary assistance the kingdom has received implicit the years were utilized to money the purchases, and that strict safeguards are successful spot to forestall immoderate abuses.

“Any insinuation that the financing of those properties came done amerciable manners is besides baseless, due to the fact that his majesty paid from his idiosyncratic funds for this,” helium said. “Any effort to nexus betwixt these and donor wealth is again baseless due to the fact that each cent successful donor wealth is accounted for and audited by america and by the donors themselves."

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, citing accusation from a trove of leaked documents, reported earlier this week that Abdullah obtained the properties done offshore ammunition companies.

Ad

Advisers to the king “spared nary effort to conceal his existent property holdings,” the study alleged. It said that accountants and lawyers for the king “concocted plans to shield his sanction from nationalist and adjacent confidential authorities registries.”

The consortium said it has reviewed adjacent to 12 cardinal leaked documents astir offshore transactions, dubbed the “Pandora Papers.” Abdullah was 1 of scores of nationalist figures from countries astir the satellite who were identified arsenic holders of hidden offshore accounts.

Abdullah's offshore dealings drew peculiar attention, on with those of respective different bold-faced names. This whitethorn person been, successful part, due to the fact that of the opposition betwixt his luxury existent property holdings and Jordan's dense dependence connected planetary assistance and the nation's continued economical crisis.

The Royal Hashemite Court issued a connection earlier this week denying immoderate impropriety. The king bought the properties successful the United States and Britain from his ain funds and details astir them were being kept quiescent for information and privateness reasons, the connection said.

Ad

Safadi, who is besides lawman premier minister, said Thursday that “there is thing secretive” astir the purchases, which according to ICIJ took spot implicit the past decade. He said that “accusations of secrecy that someway insinuate wrongdoing are baseless.”

When asked astir the optics of the ruler of 1 of the region's poorest countries owning multi-million-dollar homes, Safadi suggested the absorption connected the king was disproportionate.

Daoud Kuttab, an autarkic Jordanian journalist, said helium believes it's each astir perception.

“There isn't immoderate assertion of corruption here," helium said. "There is simply a assertion that the optics don't look good, successful a state that depends connected overseas aid, has precocious unemployment and astatine the aforesaid clip the monarch has each these luxurious houses passim the world.”

Kuttab, laminitis of the quality tract Amman Net, said that Jordan's information forces ordered him to region a communicative astir the ICIJ study connected Sunday, astir 3 hours aft helium had published it.

Ad

He said Amman Net had been the lone Jordanian outlet to study the communicative astatine that time. Most Jordanian media are either state-run, state-controlled oregon tally by journalists engaged successful self-censorship, helium said.

In the aftermath of the royal tribunal connection Monday, Amman Net had a caller story, different outlets published immoderate details and commentary, and determination was constricted treatment connected societal media.

Safadi, a erstwhile journalist, denied the communicative had been suppressed, citing the elaborate tribunal statement.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.