King of Jordan custodian of Jerusalem's holy sites

King Abdullah II of Jordan has become Custodian the Holy Sites in Jerusalem according to a freshly-signed agreement by the monarch and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, an official statement released here on Monday affirmed. King Abdullah's proclamation as the custodian of the sacred sites of the holy city "renders him more capable of defending the Islamic sanctities and safeguarding Al-Aqsa Mosque in the sacred city," the official statement said. The Jordanian-Palestinian treaty, signed by the two leaders late on Sunday, empowered the Jordanian monarch to "take all possible legal steps to safeguard the holy city particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque." According to the accord, Jordan and Palestine will make joint efforts to protect Jerusalem and the sacred sites against Israeli judaization schemes. It is also designed to protect all Waqf properties affiliated to the holy mosque. East Jerusalem, according to the text of the agreement, is an occupied Arab territory, sovereignty of which belongs to the State of Palestine and all Israeli practices in it since 1967 are illegal. The agreement, in essence, affirms Jordan's authority on the holy city, dating back to 1924, when the late king, Hussein Bin Ali, was declared custodian of the holy places. The 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace accord grants custodianship of the Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem to Jordan, which supervises these places and pay salaries of some workers.