WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM: ISRAELI SECURITY STORM AL -AQSA MOQUE AFTER CLASHES OF PALESTINIANS ANGERED BY ISRAEL'S THREAT TO "REMOVE" ARAFAT

Record ID: 400823

  • Title: WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM: ISRAELI SECURITY STORM AL -AQSA MOQUE AFTER CLASHES OF PALESTINIANS ANGERED BY ISRAEL'S THREAT TO "REMOVE" ARAFAT
  • Date: 12th September 2003
  • Summary: (U4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 12, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT BEING ESCORTED FROM HIS HEADQUARTERS AFTER FRIDAY PRAYERS, SURROUNDED BY CHANTING CROWD (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. WIDE OF SECURITY HELPING ARAFAT (PARTIALLY HIDDEN) THROUGH CROWD (2 SHOTS) 0.36 3. MV SECURITY LOOKING OUT OF WINDOW 0.39 4. MV
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA92JZUZSFC54VWT09YC3WI9DZN
  • Story Text: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat exits Ramallah
    headquarters after Friday prayers and Israeli police storm
    compound inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque.



    Israeli police stormed the compound outside
    Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque on Friday after Palestinians
    angered by Israel's threats against Yasser Arafat hurled
    rocks at worshippers at Judaism's Western Wall below.

    A police spokesman said the force restored calm and
    there were no injuries at the holy site Muslims call
    al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews revere as
    Temple Mount.

    The violence erupted after Israel's security cabinet
    decided on Thursday (September 11) to "remove" Arafat, the
    Palestinian president, accusing him of being an obstacle to
    Middle East peace.

    The latest pictures of Arafat show him surrounded by
    chanting Palestinians as he was escorted from his
    headquarters after Friday (September 12) prayers.

    Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath described
    the Israeli cabinet's decision as "criminal" adding that
    Arafat had both Palestinian and international support.

    "There is spontaneous support by the international
    community, but the Israelis are shooting at our
    worshippers in the Al-Aqsa mosque right now as we talk.

    And that is a very dangerous thing. Once again Mr. Sharon
    is at the centre of clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque as he did
    when he started all of this Intifada and all of this
    confrontation and end of the peace process. This is a very
    dangerous situation," said Shaath.

    Three years ago, a Palestinian uprising for statehood
    erupted after Israel's opposition leader at the time, Ariel
    Sharon, visited the compound, which is at the heart of the
    Israeli-Arab conflict.

    Al-Aqsa mosque, on the site of Judaism's biblical
    temples, is Islam's third holiest shrine.

    Israel seized East Jerusalem and the Old City where the
    compound is located in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed
    the area in a move that is not recognised internationally.

    The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of the
    state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza
    Strip.


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