Subversive Pessimist
28th July 2004, 17:09
Jewish radicals plan to blow up Al Asqa mosque (http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=2831)
7/25/2004 7:30:00 PM GMT
Source: Reuters
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/pics/2831.jpg
Al Aqsa has been the site of numerous clashes by Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers
Israel's Security Minister warned Saturday of a possible attack by Israeli right wing extremists on Islam’s third holiest shrine, Al Aqsa Mosque.
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.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 2 television, Internal Security Minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, said that “The level of threat (of an attack) on the Temple Mount by Jewish extremists and fanatics, in order to change the entire political process, has risen during the past few months, especially during the last few weeks, more than ever before,”.
“There is a danger that [radicals] would make use of the most explosive site, in the hope that a chain reaction would bring about the destruction of the peace process." He added.
Israeli sources on Saturday night said possible actions included an attempt to crash a drone packed with explosives on Al Aqsa, or a suicide attack with a light aircraft during mass Muslim worship in the Mosque, Haaretz reported.
Other possibilities include an attempt by right-wing extremists to assassinate a prominent Muslim leader in Al Aqsa.
However, Hanegbi did not say whether the security services had received a specific threat by a group or an individual.
Al-Aqsa mosque in Arab East Jerusalem is known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, or Holy Sanctuary, and is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of two ancient biblical temples.
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, Hanegbi said.
The shrine has also been the site of numerous clashes by Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers since a Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000.
Defying protests by right-wing hard-liners, Sharon plans to push forward with his plan to withdraw all Israeli occupation troops and settlers from Gaza, where 7,500 settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among 1.3 million Palestinians, by the end of 2005.
7/25/2004 7:30:00 PM GMT
Source: Reuters
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/pics/2831.jpg
Al Aqsa has been the site of numerous clashes by Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers
Israel's Security Minister warned Saturday of a possible attack by Israeli right wing extremists on Islam’s third holiest shrine, Al Aqsa Mosque.
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.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 2 television, Internal Security Minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, said that “The level of threat (of an attack) on the Temple Mount by Jewish extremists and fanatics, in order to change the entire political process, has risen during the past few months, especially during the last few weeks, more than ever before,”.
“There is a danger that [radicals] would make use of the most explosive site, in the hope that a chain reaction would bring about the destruction of the peace process." He added.
Israeli sources on Saturday night said possible actions included an attempt to crash a drone packed with explosives on Al Aqsa, or a suicide attack with a light aircraft during mass Muslim worship in the Mosque, Haaretz reported.
Other possibilities include an attempt by right-wing extremists to assassinate a prominent Muslim leader in Al Aqsa.
However, Hanegbi did not say whether the security services had received a specific threat by a group or an individual.
Al-Aqsa mosque in Arab East Jerusalem is known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, or Holy Sanctuary, and is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of two ancient biblical temples.
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, Hanegbi said.
The shrine has also been the site of numerous clashes by Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers since a Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000.
Defying protests by right-wing hard-liners, Sharon plans to push forward with his plan to withdraw all Israeli occupation troops and settlers from Gaza, where 7,500 settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among 1.3 million Palestinians, by the end of 2005.