Jordan seeks pope's help on Jerusalem holy sites

Oct 22, 2009, 9:20 GMT

   Amman - Jordan has sought assistance from Pope Benedict XVI to stop what it calls Israel's 'unilateral measures' in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured from the Hashemite Kingdom in the 1967 War, an official statement said Thursday.

   The request was made by Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who met the pontiff at the Vatican Wednesday, transferring a message from King Abdullah II.

   The foreign minister also presented the Holy See with a 'file detailing various Israeli measures and provocations in Jerusalem and the holy places there,' the statement said.

   Judeh called for an 'unequivocal attitude by the world community for confronting the Israeli excavations that threaten the safety of the Islamic and Christian holy sites and the attempts which seek to change the city's demographic structure through forcing its Arab inhabitants to emigrate,' the statement added.

   Under a 1994 peace treaty between the two countries, Israel acknowledged Jordan's right to look after Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.

A similar request was made by Jordan Friday in a meeting between King Abdullah and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero.