Jordan has rejected a US request to release a former top Jordanian official imprisoned in an alleged plot against the Western-allied monarchy, according to his family and lawyer. Bassem Awadallah, a dual Jordanian-American citizen, has spent over two years in Jordanian prison after being convicted of plotting against King Abdullah II with the king's own half-brother. He denies the charges, and his lawyers say he was convicted in a sham trial that lacked due process.

The US State Department requested he be released on humanitarian grounds in March, according to his family and his lawyer. The request came just weeks after he began a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment, resulting in his hospitalisation. Jordan rebuked the request earlier this month, according to John Ashcroft, Awadullah's lawyer.