A meeting of the Arab League Committee on Jerusalem on the escalating violence on the Temple Mount will be held Thursday in Amman. The foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Palestine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will participate, Petra reported. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, will also attend the meeting as a representative of the League member country, which is now a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Earlier, Jordan's King Abdullah II contacted several Arab leaders by phone and discussed with them "steps to counter the illegal measures taken by Israeli authorities against the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem." He also held talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Jordanian monarch stressed that Israel's provocative actions undermine the chances of achieving peace in the Middle East and a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem on the basis of peaceful coexistence.
For his part, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said Wednesday at a meeting with a delegation from the US State Department that Israel "must strictly respect the historical, legal and demographic status of East Jerusalem." Tranquility on the Temple Mount and in the Old City will be restored when Israel guarantees free access for Muslim believers to the al-Aqsa Mosque, he stressed.
The situation in East Jerusalem escalated on April 15 after a group of Jewish pilgrims visited the Temple Mount. Israeli police dispersed Arab protesters and detained dozens of people. The imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Akram Sabri, blamed Jewish settlers for the clashes. On Wednesday, Israeli police re-entered the Islamic shrine and set up checkpoints in the Old City and near the gate leading to the mosque.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS