Qatar, Jordan call for halting ‘illegitimate’ Israeli measures in Jerusalem

By Laith Al-Jnaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) - Qatar and Jordan on Sunday called for halting Israel’s "illegitimate" measures in occupied East Jerusalem.

The call was made following talks between Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Discussions between the two chief diplomats took up bilateral relations and a host of regional files, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers stressed the importance of the two-state solution as a way to achieve comprehensive and just peace in the region, the statement said.

Bin Abdulrahman, for his part, reiterated Qatar’s support to Jordan's custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.

Peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis collapsed in April 2014 as Tel Aviv refused to stop settlement building and release Palestinian detainees imprisoned before 1993.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping East Jerusalem, now occupied by Israel, might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara