[CPProt.net] Jordan disputes Israeli claims Al Aqsa Mosque walls could collapse

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Jordan disputes Israeli claims Al Aqsa Mosque walls could collapse
(DPA)

20 November 2005 

AMMAN - The Jordanian government on Sunday called "groundless" Israeli
reports that two walls of Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest,
were faltering and could collapse at any time.


"The Israeli reports are groundless and are designed to justify interference
in Al Aqsa Mosque affairs," Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs Abdul
Salam Al Abbadi charged.

He was responding to reports by two Israeli newspapers which quoted
officials at the Israeli Department of Antiquities as saying that the
western and eastern walls of Al Aqsa Mosque were faltering and could
collapse at any time.

"The situation of the two walls is excellent because they were rehabilitated
by Jordan last year," Abbadi said.

"Jordan rejects any interference in the affairs of Al Aqsa Mosque either by
the Israeli occupation authorities or (Jewish) extremist groups that always
seek to harm the shrine," he added.

Under the peace treaty which Jordan signed with Israel in 1994, the Jewish
state acknowledged Amman's right to look after Islamic and Christian holy
places in East Jerusalem, which was part of the Hashemite Kingdom when
Israel captured the holy city in 1967.