Jordanian Royals Receive Distant Relative’s Remains

The body of Captain Ali Sharif Bin Zeid returned to Jordan earlier today, and were received by members of the royal family, including King Abdullah II and Queen Rania. Bin Zeid was a distant member of the royals, though it is not known how he was related to them.

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The Captain was killed “on Wednesday evening as a martyr while performing the sacred duty of the Jordanian forces in Afghanistan,” the official news agency Petra said. It is not quite known how exactly he died, though it is speculated Bin Zeid was one of the thirteen killed in a suicide attack at a base in Khost.

He died on the last of his 20 day stay in the war-torn country, and was due to come back to Jordan Saturday.

But instead, Bin Zeid arrived home in a coffin. Jordanian soldiers carried his casket from Queen Alia airport in full view of the King and Queen, plus their son Crown Prince Hussein, and two of the King’s half-brothers, Princes Hamzah and Hashem.

The Captain’s title of “Sharif” is bestowed only to members of the Jordanian royal family.