2/13/2007 4:00:00 PM GMT 

(Reuters Photo) The mayor’s decision won't affect preparatory excavations that started last week
 

Jerusalem’s mayor ordered a review of Israel’s construction work near al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam. 

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Mayor Uri Lupolianski said the construction work near al-Aqsa Mosque, which lies in the Old City in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, will be subjected to a full planning review, adding that the decision was taken so that the general public could express any opposition.

City Hall expects "thousands" of objections, spokesman Gidi Schmerling said.

Officials said the project could be delayed by months or even cancelled.  

The actual construction works were scheduled to begin in six months.

However, the mayor’s decision would not affect the preparatory excavations that started last week, despite fierce opposition from Muslims all over the world. 

The suspension, which was criticized by hard-line Israeli politicians, came despite the Israeli Cabinet's vote Sunday to push ahead with the work. 

Muslim leaders said the delay isn’t sufficient.

"The problem is the digging, which hasn't stopped, and unfortunately the Israeli government has decided to continue the digging," said Jerusalem’s Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein.

"Only an announcement from the Israeli government ordering a halt to all work once and for all, and authorizing the Waqf [Islamic endowment authorities] to embark on the necessary repair work will satisfy us," he added.

Arab and Muslim leaders want Israel to halt the excavations, which was denounced by the Arab League as a “criminal attack.”

They fear the Israeli works could damage the foundations of the mosque complex, known to Muslims as the al- Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary), and as Temple Mount to Jews and some Christians.

But Israel insists that the construction works wouldn’t endanger the holy site, claiming that they are needed to repair a ramp that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago.

Israel restricted access to prayers at the Al-Aqsa compound to all but Muslim women, and Muslim men aged over 45 with Israeli ID cards.

The Israeli army also deployed more than 2,500 soldiers to bolster security at the compound after three days of violent clashes in which many Palestinian Muslim worshippers were wounded by Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel’s dangerous excavations near al-Aqsa compound have been going since Israel occupied East Jerusalem after the Middle East war in 1967.

The holy site has been a catalyst for pervious rounds of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

In 1996, Israel’s opening of an exit to a tunnel near al-Aqsa compound triggered protests in which 80 people died in clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops.

And in 2000, the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, started after Israel’s then opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, visited the holy site.

-- AJP and agencies

 
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