Jordan summons Israeli envoy to protest violations in Jerusalem

Oct 4, 2009, 19:50 GMT

Amman - The Jordanian foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the Israeli ambassador in Amman and handed him a strongly-worded protest over 'recurrent violations' in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, the official Petra news agency reported.

The message addressed to the Israeli government 'condemned the recurrent violations in East Jerusalem, al-Aqsa Mosque and the rest of Islamic and Christian holy places,' the agency said.

It also stated that 'all Israeli measures in the holy city are illegal and represent violations of Israel's commitments as an occupation power.'

The Jordanian government was responding to Israel's closure earlier Sunday of the compound of al-Aqsa Mosque and the injury and detention of a number of Palestinians in clashes with Israeli troops who were reportedly trying to ensure protection for extremist Jews planning to perform prayers in the area.

The Jordanian foreign ministry warned that Israeli measures in East Jerusalem and the West Bank 'represent an obstacle in the path of ongoing efforts that seek to ensure the launching of serious negotiations in the run-up for the two-state solution and the establishment of comprehensive peace in the region.'

Jordan called for an 'immediate halt' to alleged Israeli violations and for the release of detainees, including the staff members of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem.

Under the peace treaty which Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, the Jewish state acknowledged the Hashemite Kingdom's right to look after the Islamic and Christian shrines in East Jerusalem, which is still considered by the United Nations an occupied territory.