Work on laying out a new carpet for the Dome of the Rock Mosque started on Tuesday in implementation of His Majesty King Abdullah's recent initiative to renovate the mosque's interior.

The new carpeting, which covers approximately 2,000 square metres, was chosen with extra care in terms of colour and specifications to concur with the nature and sanctity of the mosque.

During a visit to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs last week, King Abdullah announced the construction of a fifth minaret at Al Aqsa Mosque along with other restoration, preservation and maintenance work.

The work is being undertaken as part of the Hashemites' responsibilities as custodians of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem since 1924.

The King also announced the creation of a special waqf 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.

The restoration projects as well as plans pertaining to the building of a fifth minaret at Al Aqsa and the new furniture are estimated to cost around JD5 million.

Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Fattah Salah said the King's move stems from his keenness to follow up on all issues pertaining to religious sites in Jerusalem and their preservation. He commended the Hashemites for their special and continued care for the mosques over the past decades.

Hashemite custodianship of holy Islamic places in Jerusalem has been ongoing since 1924 when Sharif Hussein Ben Ali contributed 50,000 gold lira to the restoration of Al Aqsa and other mosques in Palestine.

King Abdullah I initiated the call for the renovation of the Mihrab Zakariyah and the restoration of the surrounding structures that were damaged during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

During the era of His Majesty the late King Hussein, the government undertook the first restoration of the Dome of the Rock in 1952 and the second restoration from 1959-1964.

In 1969, the government restored the Minbar Salaheddine (the pulpit of Salaheddine) of Al Aqsa Mosque after it was damaged in a fire.

In the late 1980s, King Hussein gave instructions that the Dome of the Rock's golden dome be recovered with 5,000 gold pieces and that its ceiling and infrastructure be reinforced, with special attention to the renovation of Minbar Salaheddine.

King Abdullah, who placed the first ornament on a replica of the minbar in 2002 at the Balqa Applied University Islamic arts faculty where staff and professors completed the replica, unveiled the completed minbar in July this year, marking the beginning of its return to Al Aqsa Mosque.