Jordan jails two ex-officials for 15 years over alleged royal plot

Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, aides of Prince Hamzah, convicted of sedition after month-long trial

Two aides of a senior Jordanian royal accused of plotting against the country's monarch, King Abdullah, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a state security court.

The convictions follow a month-long trial, held mostly behind closed doors, in the capital, Amman. Bassem Awadallah, a Jordanian national who also holds Saudi and US citizenship, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, were found guilty of sedition after being accused of acting as proxies for the king's half-brother, Prince Hamzah, who officials claim had conspired to unseat Abdullah.