Israeli warning of attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque

By: Ahmed Hammadi

HELD JERUSALEM: Israel's Interior Minister Tzahi Hanegbi has warned on Saturday of a high risk of an attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli right wing groups.

The Al-Aqsa mosque in Arab East Jerusalem is known to Muslims as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif, or Holy Sanctuary, and is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

“The risk of Jewish extremists and fanatics committing an attack against Temple Mount or the faithful in this most sacred place for Islam has never been so high,” the minister said while speaking to Israel's Channel 2 television. “We have a considerable amount of disquieting information according to which it is not only academic ideas but concrete projects.”

The comments follow a report by Israel's secret service that there is an increasing threat of an attack on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by right-wing groups who oppose his plan to pull troops out of Gaza and dismantle all 21 settlements.

Hanegbi said the extremists would take advantage of the fact that the shrine served as “the most sensitive, most volatile, most sacred site for Muslims” in order to attack either the mosque itself or its worshippers.

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