US dispatches envoy to ease Mideast frictions

Bloomberg

White House envoy Jason Greenblatt flew back to a more volatile Middle East on Monday as deadly violence that began over a Jerusalem shrine spilled over into the Israeli Embassy in Jordan, leading to a diplomatic standoff between two key American allies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set to convene for the second time in 24 hours as his government tries to bring back an embassy guard from Amman and ease unrest that has erupted over its installation of metal detectors at the shrine. Since Friday, when thousands of Palestinians faced off against Israeli police, violence has spread from the holy city to the West Bank, and defusing it has been complicated by the stabbing of an Israeli security official in Amman who shot two Jordanians to death.
Jordan is refusing to let the official leave the country until he is investigated, but Israel says he is protected from detention or questioning under the Vienna Convention. Netanyahu said his government is working through various channels to bring the security officer back.
Lawmakers in Amman cautioned the government against cutting a deal to release an Israeli who killed two Jordanians. “This is outrageous,” said Saleh Armouti, a member of parliament and former president of the Jordan Bar Association. “He committed a crime and should be held accountable.”
The embassy shooting put previously quiet US efforts to end the confrontations over the Jerusalem holy site into high gear, and reflected the gravity with which Washington views the flareup that began this month over the new security arrangements at the Old City compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Al-Aqsa mosque complex.