AMMAN: A statement from Jordan’s royal palace says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has committed to a special Jordanian role in caring for holy shrines in Jerusalem.
The move is symbolic. Jordan’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel recognizes Jordan’s role as custodian of Christian and Muslim shrines in the city, which Israel captured from the kingdom in the 1967 Mideast War. The Palestinians want the eastern portion of the city as the capital of their future state.
The Palestinians still have no official say on Jerusalem. The fate of the city and its shrines is to be determined in final status talks with Israel, which broke down two years ago.
The statement said the agreement signed Sunday between Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II confirms a verbal deal brokered in 1924.
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