Saudi Arabia, allies meet to talk Jordan crisis after unrest

Saudi King Salman called Emirati and Kuwaiti rulers, urging the meeting, which is to be held in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on Sunday, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

"They agreed to hold a meeting comprising the four countries...to discuss means of supporting Jordan to overcome its current crisis," it said.

Protests engulfed the cash-strapped Jordan earlier in the month after the government announced a fuel prices rise of up to 5.5 percent and a 19 percent hike in electricity prices. The price of fuel has risen on five occasions since the beginning of the year.

The spikes are required by the International Monetary Fund, from which the country secured a $723-million loan in 2016.

The people have been calling for the “fall of the government,” and riots have spread throughout the country.

The government has ordered a freeze and withdrawn a similarly-controversial income tax law it had planned. Prime minister Hani Mulki has also resigned in the wake of the protests.

Observers have, meanwhile, warned Amman against seeking help from parties that could seek to direct its policies in return.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are accused of seeking to monopolize power in the Middle East region, including the Persian Gulf, by pooling their resources and trying to exclude the other members of the regional Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

On Wednesday, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi unveiled a raft of economic deals, signing 20 memorandums of understanding for over 60 joint projects, including in the oil and gas, banking, nuclear energy, and defense.

The deals, approved at a meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, did not involve the four other GCC members -- Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain, and non-member Egypt imposed an all-out blockade against Qatar last year, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha has strongly denied the allegation.