The Kingdom marked the anniversary of Al Israa wal Miraj on Monday in a ceremony attended by His Majesty King Abdullah.

At the ceremony held at the King Abdullah I Mosque's Islamic Cultural Centre, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Fattah Salah highlighted the support of the Hashemites for Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites in Jerusalem and its citizens.

Stressing the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, Salah underlined King Abdullah's support for the issue of Jerusalem in particular and Palestine in general at the various levels.

Mohammad Nuseibah, a member of the Awqaf Council in Jerusalem, who was invited by the Royal Court to attend the ceremony, said: "Had there never been strong support by the Hashemites for Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites in Jerusalem, the situation would have been much worse."

Nuseibah, who buried in his house garden in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood a Jordanian soldier who fell martyr in the 1967 war, said: "There have been several attempts to Judaise Jerusalem and the Hashemites have for long been supportive of our efforts to help us preserve the Arab identity of the city."

King Abdullah honoured Nuseibah on Wednesday and voiced his appreciation for the Jerusalemite, who the King said is a living proof of solidarity between the Palestinians and the Jordanians.

Egyptian Muslim scholar Zaghloul Najjar reviewed King Abdullah's support for Jerusalem, referring to an announcement by His Majesty in late 2006 to create a special waqf (religious endowment) fund to support the holy places and ensure the continuity of maintenance and protection of Islamic shrines, foremost of which is Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.