Mideast - AFP
Egypt strongly urges Israel to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque
Date: Wed, Jul 28, 2004
CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt strongly urged Israel to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, amid reports Jewish extremists could be planning to attack the holy site.
"Egypt has expressed to (Israel) in the strongest language that these holy sites ... are sacred and should never be tampered with as has happened in the past," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told reporters.
He was referring to an attempt by an Australian Christian fundamentalist to burn down al-Aqsa in 1969. The fire, which gutted the mosque's southeastern wing, has been regularly commemorated with attacks on Israelis.
Gheit added that he had instructed Egyptian diplomats in Tel Aviv to find out more about the reports.
The Israeli media have reported that authorities fear Jewish extremists could be planning an air attack on the disputed mosque compound in a bid to derail government plans to uproot settlers from the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
Earlier in Cairo, the head of Sunni Islam's most important institution, the Sheikh of al-Azhar, denounced the alleged threat.
"These threats cannot be envisaged either mentally, legally, religiously or morally," Mohammed Sayed Tantawi told the official news agency MENA.
"Only a mentally deranged person would say such a thing," said Tantawi, who called on Muslims around the world to unite to challenge the threat.
Known as the Temple Mount by Jews and Al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, to Muslims, the compound housing the Al-Aqsa Mosque also shelters the Dome of the Rock, or Omar Mosque, and the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews.
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