Jordan Thursday urged the world to press Israel to stop its excavations at the Maghareba Gate in East Jerusalem, the official Petra news agency reported.

Foreign minister Salah Al-Bashir made the remarks during a series of meetings with envoys of UN's five permanent members, European Union (EU) member states, Arab and Islamic states among others, according to the report.

He called on those countries to employ their ties with Israel and stop the Jewish state from taking any unilateral action in Jerusalem that could change the legal quo status and escalate the tension in the region.

What Al-Bashir said echoed remarks from Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian territories and preacher of Al Aqsa Mosque, considered as the third holiest Islamic site.

The senior scholar said Israel's aggression against the gate has been ongoing since early 2002, calling on Islamic states to unify stand and protect the holy city, said local daily The Jordan Times.

Jordan's royal Hashemite family traces their ancestry back to the Islamic prophet Mohammed, and has long posed as guardian of the Islamic faith and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Under a peace treaty Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, the Jewish state respects the special role of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)