Jordan's king sells land for army

King Abdullah is himself a former career soldier

By Caroline Hawley in Cairo

King Abdullah of Jordan has announced plans to sell some of the royal family's property to pay for a salary increase for the security forces.

He broke the news during a banquet with senior military officers.

King Abdullah said he had taken the decision because of a shortfall in government revenues.

Over the past few years the salaries of Jordan's security forces have been steadily eroded by inflation, and King Abdullah, a former career soldier himself, was clearly concerned.

Pillar of stability

Violence in the West Bank and Gaza has robbed Jordan of one of its main export markets

The army has always been seen as one of the pillars of the Hashemite kingdom in an unstable region.

But a pay rise of $1,400 for each member of the security forces would have cost the government around $20m that it could not afford.

The Jordanian economy, already suffering the effects of high oil prices earlier in the year has been badly hit by the fallout from the crisis between Israelis and Palestinians.

Lost market

Because of the violence, Jordan has lost a large part of its export market - the West Bank and Gaza.

The country's tourist sites are also now practically deserted.

So with his government strapped for cash, King Abdullah has taken the unusual decision of putting royal property on the market to finance the pay rise.

It is not the first time this has been done. A few years ago King Abdullah's father, King Hussein, sold a house in London to pay for restoration work on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

King Abdullah did not specify what would be sold this time.