Jordan, Palestine hold conference on Jerusalem

AMMAN — Jordan and Palestine organised a conference in Ankara on Saturday to highlight the importance of Jerusalem and the Muslim world's role in protecting the holy city from Israeli attempts to Judaise it.

Titled "Jerusalem: the City of Peace", the conference was held by the embassies of Jordan and Palestine in Ankara in cooperation with the Arab League, and under the joint patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Experts from Jordan, Turkey, Palestine and Morocco discussed means to prevent the desecration of occupied Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian sites.

Speaking at the conference, Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood said the most dangerous threat to the holy city lies in Jewish extremists' attempt to divide Al Aqsa Mosque complex, with the aim of Judaising some of its corners.

Jordan, he stressed, is working to counter this in cooperation with the Arab League, UNESCO, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Security Council, in addition to using its peace accord with Israel to maintain the Arab identity of the city.

Jordan's Ambassador to Turkey Amjad Adaileh told Petra that discussions at the conference are also aimed at promoting religious tourism to Jerusalem, noting that it is being held after Turkish, Palestinian and Jordanian travel agents signed a deal to facilitate the visit of 100,000 Turkish pilgrims to Jerusalem through Jordan.