http://jordantimes.com/mon/news/news1.htm

King warns against damaging Islamic shrines in Jerusalem

Monarch condemns Israeli attempts near Magharebah Gate, adjacent to Aqsa Mosque’s Western Wall

AMMAN (JT) — King Abdullah on Sunday warned against damaging Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.

At a meeting with a delegation of Arab members of the Knesset, the King condemned Israeli attempts to demolish the road of the Magharebah Gate, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Aqsa Mosque, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

“Any attempts to change the nature of such holy sites [in Jerusalem] and remove its Islamic characteristics are condemned,” the King said.

The Monarch said Arab Israeli leaders play a key role in supporting efforts to revive the peace process.

He added that Jordan was keen to enhance relations with the Arab Israeli leadership to serve the Palestinian cause.

Meanwhile, Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal lashed out at Israel for its attempts to damage the Aqsa.

He told reporters in Damascus that such attempts would make it easier for Israeli troops to attack the revered Al Aqsa Mosque and other Islamic sites nearby in the future, according to the Associated Press.

"Israel, which today is playing with fire when it touches the Aqsa, knows the consequences of this playing with fire," Mishaal said.

He also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and everywhere to launch a "comprehensive, popular and continuous action to defend the Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem".

Mishaal warned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that this action would mimic the riots that erupted — then turned into years of uprising — after former Israeli premier, Ariel Sharon, visited the Aqsa compound in 2000.

"Olmert must learn the lesson... the Israeli military and security command must learn the lesson of Sharon who sparked the Intifada," Mishaal said.

Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated at the mosque earlier in the day to protest the Israeli scheme, which is widely perceived in the Arab world as part of Israel's attempts to demolish the mosque.

The Jordanian Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs issued a statement urging governments and organisations of the world to “intervene immediately to stop the dangerous Israeli practices, including a plan by the Israeli government to remove a hill near the Magharebah Gate”.

The panel charged that the Israeli move was designed to benefit from the inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a flagrant aggression on an Islamic shrine and Jordan's sovereignty over it, a violation of the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty and a challenge for the UN resolutions,” the panel said in its statement.

Also, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and a Saudi-based body of Muslim scholars condemned Israeli work near the Aqsa Mosque.

"The most serious element is plans to excavate under the walls of the Aqsa Mosque and its underground tunnels," the Islamic Jurisprudence Academy said in a statement carried on Saudi state news agency SPA.

"The academy expresses its sorrow about blatant violations of the sanctity of the mosque, whose existence is threatened," said the Jeddah-based academy, which groups prominent Sunni and Shiite clerics from around the world.

Monday, February 5, 2007