(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday said that Israel has to be committed to the pacts signed with the Palestinians, calling for preserving the status quo in Jerusalem as well as halting aggression on the Palestinians and their sanctities.
Abbas made the statement during talks with US State Secretary John Kerry in Amman on Saturday.
Kerry's visit to the Kingdom is part of US efforts to calm the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories amid recent escalation resulting from Israel's aggression on the Palestinian people an Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The president also demanded a halt to the settlers' attacks against Palestinians, and holy sites, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu-Redina told the press after the talks with Kerry.
In addition, Abbas called for providing protection to the Palestinians and convening an international conference with a time frame for establishing a Palestinian state, they said.
On Al-Aqsa, the president asked for returning the management of the mosque affairs to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqfs Authority. He held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsibility of the escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to Eerekat, Kerry stressed that the US is seeking that no change takes place at Al-Aqsa and to maintain the status quo there.
Earlier today, Kerry and Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks that focused on the Middle East peace process and latest developments between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as well as the Syrian crisis and the situation in Iraq.
Kerry's visit to Jordan is part of a Mideast-European tour that started in Germany where he met with Netanyahu. Then he flew to Austria where he and counterparts from Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey discussed the Syrian crisis.
The US State Secretary is due later in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
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