Coup Atlas Research Database
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66303201959ConspiracyMilitary coup

Jordan, 1959 — military coup conspiracy

Jordan (JOR)Western Asia, AsiaMarch 20, 1959

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a military conspiracy in Jordan on 20 March 1959, corresponding to the Sadiq al-Shara affair, when King Hussein charged that his army chief of staff, Major General Sadiq al-Shara, was plotting a coup backed by the United Arab Republic. United States diplomatic records describe a conspiracy in the army among non-Bedouin officers sympathetic to the Jordanian Baath party, aiming to assassinate Hussein and create a pro-UAR government, with al-Shara as their patron. Al-Shara accompanied Hussein on his 1959 tour of the United States, and the arrest of the conspiring officers coincided with that visit; al-Shara was tried and sentenced to death, commuted by Hussein to life imprisonment and later pardoned.

The affair was part of the recurring UAR-backed plotting against the Hashemite monarchy during the Arab Cold War.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: King Hussein exposed the plot, removed al-Shara, and retained his throne
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
King Hussein of Jordan (target)
Major General Sadiq al-Shara (army chief of staff, alleged plotter)
Non-Bedouin Baathist officers backed by the UAR (conspirators)

Sources

Two months before Majali's May 1959 appointment as prime minister, King Hussein had charged that his army chief of staff, Major General Sadiq al-Sharaa, was plotting a military coup against him, backed by the UAR.
SOURCE REVIEWED New Lines Magazine, How a Now-Forgotten Assassination Almost Toppled Jordan's Monarchy open source ↗
A conspiracy existed in the army among non-Bedouin officers sympathetic to the Baath party of Jordan, whose reported aims were the assassination of Hussein and creation of a pro-UAR government, with non-Bedouins looking chiefly to Major General Sadiq Ash-Shara for leadership.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1958-60 vol. XI open source ↗
Sadiq al-Shara, who accompanied Hussein to the United States in 1959, was found to have plotted a coup; the arrests coincided with the US visit, and al-Shara received a death penalty that Hussein reduced to life imprisonment before a later pardon.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Hussein of Jordan open source ↗

Editorial Note

Near-exact date match: the coded 20 March 1959 aligns with the March 1959 al-Shara plot charge. Well documented. Second Jordan record; pairs with the 1 July 1958 Jordan crisis record in this batch. Distinct from the April 1957 Abu Nuwar affair.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
66303201959

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: King Hussein exposed the plot, removed al-Shara, and retained his throne.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

New York Times

“Article 2 – No Title,” March 22, 1959

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Jordan — Military coup, 19581958-07-01ConspiracyWestern AsiaJordan — Military coup, 19721972-11-25ConspiracyWestern AsiaJordan — Military coup, 19571957-04-14AttemptedWestern Asia