Jerusalem, Middle East - A Palestinian commission has cleared the former head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem of charges of selling land to Jewish investors.
Patriarch Irineos I was demoted to the rank of monk following accusations that he sold Church land in East Jerusalem.
Palestinians fear a Jewish presence in East Jerusalem could prejudice a final settlement on the disputed city.
The Patriarch had been the religious head of 100,000 Christians in the Holy Land, most of them Palestinian.
No evidence
At the centre of the dispute is the sale of land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church situated just inside Jerusalem's Old City.
Christian Palestinians living there hope that if a peace deal with Israel is agreed, it will form part of a future Palestinian capital.
The concern is that the new owners may attempt to create a Jewish presence in a traditionally Arab area, and impede the creation of a Palestinian-controlled zone.
Irineos, who was said to be trying to revoke the sale, said he never agreed to the transaction but there is speculation that one of his deputies may have signed the deal on his behalf.
"Based on the information we obtained, we found no evidence to incriminate Patriarch Irineos I over the deal," the Palestinian cabinet investigative panel said in a report printed in the al-Quds newspaper on Monday.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, but its claim to the area is not recognised internationally.