AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah urged the European Union to take a firm stand against Israel over clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque compound, as he met the EU president on Sunday.

“The international community and the EU in particular should adopt a firm position to halt these serious aggressions and violations” by the Jewish state, he told Donald Tusk.

The king, quoted by the royal palace, warned that the Al-Aqsa clashes would have “serious consequences,” especially in the absence of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians that have been stalled since April 2014.

Jews visited the site in annexed east Jerusalem for the start of the Jewish New Year on Sept 13, sparking days of clashes between Muslims and Israeli police on and near the plaza that houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques.

King Abdullah warned that any further “provocation” in Jerusalem would damage ties between his country and Israel, linked by a 2004 peace treaty.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2015

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