Jordan warns Israel: Don't cross Al-Aqsa red line

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:31:25 GMT

Jordan's King Abdullah II has advised Israel against crossing the Jerusalem Al-Quds 'red line', warning the violation could bring about 'disastrous repercussions'.

"Jerusalem is a red line and any manipulation in this city would have disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region," he said in talks on Friday with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The warning follows weeks of tensions in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound sparked after the Israeli forces denied Palestinian worshippers access to the mosque, the third holy site in the Muslim world.

Tel Aviv deployed thousands of soldiers in East Jerusalem Al-Quds to disperse and arrest angry Palestinian protesters accusing Israel of efforts to remove the Islamic-Palestinian identity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Friday, King Abdullah called on the international community, especially the European Union, "to act firmly against any Israeli measures aimed at changing the identity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and threaten the places of worship."

Israeli media recently revealed that extremist Jewish organizations in Israel are pressuring the Tel Aviv government to remove the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock from East Jerusalem Al-Quds and transfer them to Mecca.

Ultra-right Yehuda Etzion, who is associated with Israeli spy agencies, has also threatened to blow up the Muslim sanctities if the government fails to dissemble and transfer the edifices.

Jordan, who enjoys the right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem Al-Quds under a 1994 peace treaty, earlier demanded Israel to keep Jewish extremists away from the compound.

Israel has been evicting Arab residents of East Jerusalem Al-Quds over 'illegal construction' in the dominantly Palestinian neighborhood, which Tel Aviv occupied in 1967 and illegally annexed later in a move not recognized by the international community.

The Palestinians condemn the evictions accusing Israeli municipality officials of making it virtually impossible for the Arab citizens to get permits for new homes or extending existing ones.