WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden has underlined his support for the legal `status quo` of Jerusalem`s Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a meeting at the White House with Jordanian King Abdullah II.

Biden, the king and Crown Prince Hussein had a private lunch on Thursday in which the US president `reaffirmed the close, enduring nature of the friendship between the United States and Jordan,` the White House said. They also both spoke with Iraq`s prime minister by phone.

Referring to growing tensions around the Al-Aqsa mosque located on a site venerated both by Muslims and Jews inside Israeli-annexedeast JerusalemBiden reaffirmed `the critical need to preserve the historic status quo`. He also recognised Jordan`s `crucial role as the custodian of Muslim holy places in Jerusalem,` the White House said in a statement.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Biden reiterated the US position of `strong support for a twostate solution,` also thanking King Abdullah `for his close partnership and the role he and Jordan play as a force for stability in the Middle East`.While with the king, Biden spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani `to reaffirm US commitment to Iraq,` the White House said.

Biden hailed Sudani`s `efforts to strengthen Iraq`s sovereignty and independence,` the statement said, adding that Biden expressed support for the country`s `economic agenda and plans to ensure that Iraq`s economy is delivering for the Iraqi people`.

Biden and Sudani stressed their commitment to keeping the Islamic State militant group from being able to `threaten the Iraqi people or regional and international security.

King Abdullah was invited to join the call, the White House said, and he `stressed Jordan`s support for Iraq, including through joint strategic infrastructure projects`.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the thirdholiest place in Islam and the most sacred site to Jews, who refer to the compound as the Temple Mount.

Under a longstanding status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there.

In recent years, a growing number of Jews, most of them Israeli nationalists, have covertly prayed at the compound, angering Palestinians. In January, the national security minister in Israel`s new far-right government made his own visit to the site, sparking a torrent of international condemnation.-AFP