Jordan's king blasts Israeli unilateral actions in East Jerusalem

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday rejected any Israeli "unilateral measure" in East Jerusalem and vowed to pursue steps to preserve the Arab identity of the city, which Israel captured from the Hashemite Kingdom in the 1967 Middle East war. The monarch made the remarks as he presided over a meeting between senior officials and representatives of Arab families in Jerusalem, to follow up on projects being implemented by Jordan in the holy city's al-Aqsa Mosque, a royal court statement said.

"The monarch expressed Jordan's rejection of any Israeli unilateral measure that seeks to change the historical status of the holy city and the (Arab) identity of the holy shrines by emptying the city of its Muslim and Christian inhabitants," the statement said.

Abdullah alluded to the determination of the right-wing Israeli government to push ahead with settlement activity in East Jerusalem, which is still considered by the United Nations as occupied territory, the demolition of houses built by Palestinians allegedly without licenses and forcing more Palestinians to leave their homes.

The Jordanian government has repeatedly accused Israel of violating international law by conducting excavations underneath and around al-Aqsa Mosque, amid widespread Arab suspicions that Israel plans to rebuild the biblical Solomon's Temple.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted Monday as saying that he had rejected US pressures on Israel to freeze settlements in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"They (Americans) asked us for complete freeze, and we told them that we will not do this," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Israeli media.

Speakers during the meeting chaired by Abdullah focused on Israeli policies that target Muslim and Christian holy places and crack down on inhabitants of East Jerusalem as part of a scheme to "judaize" the holy city, the royal court statement said.

Former Prime Minister Taher Masri, who descends from a Palestinian origin, urged a "larger Arab role to confront Jewish schemes and boost the steadfastness of Jerusalem's Arab inhabitants."

Under the peace treaty that Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, the Jewish state acknowledged Amman's right to look after Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.

Abdullah did not elaborate on the steps he intended to take to preserve the city's Arab identity.

Jordanian activity in East Jerusalem after its occupation in 1967 was confined to reconstruction and repair work at al-Aqsa Mosque and other Muslim shrines.

An office representing the Jordanian Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments supervises the day-to-day running of the shrines.