Gaza, ALRAY - Jordan declined an Israeli request to allow Jews regular prayers in occupied Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
"Jordan is completely opposed to granting Jews any space to pray on Al Aqsa Mosque," a senior Jordanian official told Jordanian news outlet Al-Ghad Al-Ordoni on Tuesday.
Abdul-Nasser Nasser, Jordan's top adviser for Islamic and Christian property in Jerusalem, said "Jordan will not permit Israeli extremists into the Al Aqsa Compound, Islam's third most holiest site.
The peace treaty signed twenty years ago between Jordan and the Israeli occupation acknowledges Jordan's "special role" in the custodianship of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.
(Israel)'s deputy minister of religious services had requested from so-called Israel's rabbinate a ruling that would allow Jews to pray in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
The minister stated that following a ruling in this matter by the rabbinate, legislation would be promulgated to allow the regular worship of Jews in the al Aqsa mosque compound.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday in a meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb in Cairo "the Palestinians' stance on Jerusalem would not change regardless of the direction peace talks with Israel take," Reuters reported.
Abbas added that "The most important stance we have is that Jerusalem must be the capital of the state of Palestine, and His Highness [Al-Tayeb] has ensured that this should be our goal, and that we should all strive to keep the third holy spot for Muslims [Al-Aqsa Mosque] safe and sound in the hands of the Muslim community,"
Alternative Information Center (AIC) and Reuters contributed.