Dismissal of Patriarch yet to be endorsed

Occupied Jerusalem's holy site custodian, said yesterday it has not been informed officially of the dismissal of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Eireneos I.

The leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Holy Land announced on Thursday it is ending all contact with Eireneos because of corruption suspicions and considers him dismissed.

Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yirfas said his government must endorse the dismissal decision, but only once it is officially informed.

Jordan will accept the decision if two-thirds of the church's holy council members back the decision, Yirfas added.

Thirteen bishops and 25 archmandrites of the Greek Orthodox church made the announcement in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.

Their dismissal is not binding, but it ratchets up internal pressures on Eireneos to step down over the reported leasing of prime church property to Jewish colonists in Occupied Jerusalem's Old City for 198 years. Eireneos has denied wrongdoing.

In a TV interview late yesterday, reverend Attallah Hana from Greek Orthodox church confirmed the dismissal decision, which he said was taken by the majority of the members of the church's council members.

In March, an Israeli newspaper said the church had sold property, including two hotels, to an Israeli company.

The sales would bolster the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, a traditionally Arab quarter that the Palestinians hope to turn into the capital of their independent state.

The church complies with a 1958 Jordanian law that bans any sale of church land and property.