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21:28, 14-May-2018
Arab League to discuss ‘illegal’ US embassy move to Jerusalem
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The Arab League will hold emergency talks Wednesday to discuss Washington's "illegal" decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a senior official said.
The meeting will focus on "ways of countering the illegal decision by the United States to move the embassy to Jerusalem", the organization's deputy secretary general for Palestinian affairs, Saeed Abu Ali, said.
He told reporters the permanent representatives of members of the Cairo-based Arab League would meet "at the request of the state of Palestine."
Embassy staff prepare the stage ahead of the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018. /AFP Photo
Embassy staff prepare the stage ahead of the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018. /AFP Photo
Jordan denounced the embassy move as a "clear violation" of the UN charter. In a statement, it also "condemned" a unilateral decision by US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Palestinian claims to part of the disputed city.
Jordan is the only other Arab country besides Egypt to have ties with Israel, and it is also the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
The status of the holy city – home also to Christian and Jewish shrines – is perhaps the thorniest issue in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Source(s): AFP