Jordan Condemns Israel 'Escalation' in Al-Aqsa
Jordan on Wednesday urged the U.N. Security Council to end Israeli "escalation" at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound after it was opened to Jewish visitors.
"Legal, humanitarian and ethical duties of the U.N. Security Council and the international community require that they stop Israeli escalation and violations committed by Jewish radicals at Al-Aqsa," Information Minister Mohammad Momani told the state-run Petra news agency.
"Such actions as well as Israel's insistence on supporting radical groups provoke Muslims around the world, create more instability in the region and violate international laws."
Dozens of Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli police when the compound was opened on Wednesday to Jewish visitors, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.
The correspondent said dozens of Palestinians were wounded by rubber-coated bullets and stun grenade canisters, and stayed inside the Al-Aqsa mosque for fear of arrest if they left.
The compound, in Jerusalem's Old City, is revered as the location of the biblical Jewish temples and is considered Judaism's holiest place.
It also houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
Non-Muslim visits to the complex are permitted and regulated by police, but Jews are not allowed to pray there.
Under the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, the kingdom is the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
Source: Agence France Presse
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