Far-right Israel MP visits Jerusalem mosque compound

Uri Ariel of the National Union party told AFP Monday that he entered the compound accompanied by police and visited areas adjacent to the mosques where "Jews are allowed to go under Jewish law."

Ariel said following his tour of the sensitive site, where according to Jewish tradition the second Temple stood: "The temple is the heart of the Jewish people.

"This is a message of Israel's sovereignty over Temple Mount, and Jews should visit the place," he said.

The compound, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is where the second Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000 following a controversial visit by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.

Israeli Arab MP Ahmed Tibi denounced the move as "a provocative intrusion into the Al-Aqsa compound by a Jewish extremist during the holy month of Ramadan and a provocation against the entire Muslim and Arab world".

"Such a move in the past has led to bloodshed, which MP Ariel strives to repeat," Tibi told AFP.

The head of the Islamic endowments authority responsible for the mosque compound, Adnan Husseini, said he was "not aware of such a visit but he may have entered with a group of Israeli tourists accompanied by police.

"If such a visit did take place, it would be a provocation. Such provocation and irresponsible acts should stop and the Israeli government should respect the sanctity of Ramadan," Husseini told AFP.

But Ariel rejected the criticism, saying: "I am not responsible for provocation. If someone wants to create provocation, it is not me. The Temple Mount is more Jewish than Muslim."

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