Amman ready to relinquish Muslim sites to Palestinians
The Jordanian government has expressed its readiness to relinquish the responsibility of supervising Muslim sites in Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority.
Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdah said in a statement to the Middle East Broadcasting Center on Sunday night that, "Jordan's interest in Jerusalem is part of the same interest shown by the Arab and Islamic nation, " adding,"We are not alternatives for our Palestinian brothers. We are ready to cede the responsibility for supervising the holy Muslim sites of they wish so."
The Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty signed in 1994 said that Israel has to honor the special role played by Jordan in the Muslim sites in Jerusalem and that when negotiations on the final status are convened, Israel will give top priority to the Jordanian role in these areas.
The Palestinian ambassador in Amman, Omar al-Khatib, welcomed al-Rawabdah's statement and viewed these statements as "a Jordanian stand in backing the rights of the Palestinian people and its legitimate representative, the Palestinian National Authority."
He added in press statements in Amman on Monday that the "Palestinians know that the holy sites in Jerusalem are under the care of Jordan until the Palestinian people restore their rights, and then Jerusalem will be the capital for their state." Al-Khatib added, "Jordan supports our demands in this respect when it expressed readiness to cede its supervising responsibility."
However, the decision taken by King Hussein in 1988 to dissolve the laison between the two banks of the Jordanian river, the west and east banks, resulted in keeping the Muslim sites in Jerusalem under the supervision of Jordan, which has spent some US $250 million since 1952 through 1991 on the Muslim sites. King Hussein offered a donation of US $12 million for rebuilding of al-Aqsa mosque, which was burnt in 1969.
Moreover, Israel's recognition of Jordan's religious supervision of the Muslim sites provoked the Palestinians, who refuse any form of Jordanian presence in Jerusalem, even if such a presence is symbolic.
In 1996, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat tried to change the Jordanian al-Awqaf (Islamic Trust) employees in al-Aqsa mosque to Palestinian staff, but Arafat was obliged to give up his decision following an angry reaction from King Hussein who stressed the importance of preserving the Hashamite historical role in caring for and supervising the Islamic sites in Jerusalem.
In May, King Abdullah Bin al-Hussein stressed that, "Jerusalem should be kept an open city," and that the Jordanians and the Palestinians have "the right to give their votes concerning its future."
Al-Sharif al-Hussein Bil Ali, the third grandfather of King Abdullah was buried in al-Aqsa Mosque.