Amman::Jordan's King Abdullah II denounced what hecalled Israeli attempts "to change the Islamic stamp" of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsamosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam, according to an official statement. 

"The monarch warned against any attempt to undermineIslamic holy shrines in Jerusalem,"the statement from the royal court said yesterday (Feb 4, 2007).

"The king made the remark during a meeting at the royalpalace with Arab legislators at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset," thestatement said.

"King Abdullah in particular condemned the latest Israeliplan to demolish the Magharebah Gate road, which is close to the westernwall of the Al-Aqsa mosque and forms an integral part of the shrine," thestatement said.

Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated at the Al-Aqsa mosqueSunday to protest the scheme, which is widely perceived in the Arab world aspart of Israel'salleged attempts to demolish the mosque to rebuild the biblical Solomon Templein its place.

Earlier in the day, the Jordanian Royal Committee forJerusalem Affairs issued a statement urging governments and organisations ofthe world to intervene immediately to stop the dangerous Israelipractices, including a plan by the Israeli government to remove a hill near theMagharebah Gate.

The panel charged that the Israeli move was designed tobenefit from the inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip.

"This is a flagrant aggression on an Islamic shrine andon Jordan'ssovereignty over it, a violation of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and achallenge for the UN resolutions," the panel said in its statement.

 Under the peace pact, which Jordanconcluded with Israel in1994, the Jewish state recognised Amman'ssovereignty over both Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalemas well as Jordan'sright to look after them. 

Arab East Jerusalem was part of the Hashemite kingdom when Israel occupiedthe holy city in 1967. In a series of resolutions since then, the UN rejectedas null and void Israel'sannexation of the eastern part of the holy city.