RABAT: King Mohamed VI of Morocco urged Israel yesterday not to press ahead with plans to build a Jewish temple in the Muslim area of East Jerusalem.
The king warned the building of a synagogue next to the Al Aqsa mosque could have “detrimental consequences” on Israel’s peace talks with the Palestinians.
“What has been started in this district will certainly complicate the peace deal and could have to detrimental consequences,” he said in a statement aimed at Pope Benedict XVI and the UN.
Al Aqsa mosque — on Islam’s third holiest site — has been a major flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The site saw the outbreak of the latest Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in 2000.
Jews believe the compound including the mosque was the site of the Second Temple, Judaism’s holiest site, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
East Jerusalem is home to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Palestinians want the district as the capital of any future Palestinian state. - AFP |
