RIYADH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned on Sunday the Israeli police action at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, warning that it could have a dangerous outcome.
According to a report on english.aljazeera.net citing their Jerusalem correspondent, the violence in the Old City erupted after the Israeli police fired tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinian students and youths in the area. The youths retaliated by throwing stones at the police.
Al-Jazeera added that Israeli police had deployed extra troops to the site early on Sunday after Palestinians called for demonstrations in response to rumors that rightwing Jewish activists were planning to gather at the compound.
The rumors circulated after a fringe Israeli group, the Organization for the Defence of Human Rights on the Temple Mount, called on Jews to gather at the mosque compound as well as the adjacent Western Wall.
This is a violation of all Muslim sanctuaries, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the OIC, the world s largest Islamic association, said in a statement.
He said frequent Israeli breaches of the mosque compound, known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, are very dangerous and could lead to a negative outcome.
He called on the global Islamic community to take a stand to defend Islamic holy sites, and warned that any damage to the mosque could have unpredictable consequences for international peace and security.
The OIC late on Sunday said in a statement it had called an extraordinary meeting for November 1 in Jeddah of its executive committee, which groups Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Senegal, Uganda and Tajikistan.
The meeting, to which the Palestinians and Morocco – the chair of the OIC s Al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee – have also been invited, will study all means available to counteract the Israeli violations, the statement said.
It will also seek ways to put an end to Israeli aggressions at Al-Aqsa and protect, in cooperation with the international community, Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. -Agencies
