Israel closes off Palestinian territories in advance of Friday Muslim prayers¤

Israel succeeded in its immediate aim of keeping down the number of Muslims traveling from the volatile territories to Friday's midday prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City _ the emotionally charged spot where the trouble erupted last week. About 3,000 worshippers were present as the prayers began, well off the usual figure of 10,000 to 15,000. Some were prevented from reaching the mosque by the closure of the Palestinian territories, and others may have stayed away due to concern about potential for clashes. Fahmi Mustafa Ahmed Bari, 54, a Muslim who attempted to go from the West Bank to Al Aqsa, was turned back at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem. "I go to Al Aqsa every week," he said. I've come from 80 kilometers (50 miles), and they turn me away. They didn't say why and that makes me very angry." Weeklong battles between Israeli forces and Palestinian rioters, which have claimed 68 lives and wounded 1,900 _ most of them Palestinians _ slowed but did not stop Thursday as both sides worked to reduce tensions. The Israelis withdrew tanks from several of the most explosive sites, and the Palestinians sought to keep rioters in check. However, Friday was expected to be tense. The fiery sermons by Islamic clerics on the Muslim Sabbath often call for worshipers to defend to the death Arab control of the compound, Islam's third-holiest site. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and the militant Islamic opposition group Hamas declared Friday a "day of rage," calling for confrontations with Israeli soldiers. Israeli police ringed Jerusalem's walled Old City, and were in large numbers near the mosque compound. But they stayed back from the entrances to the compound and allowed Palestinian officials to check the identification cards of worshippers. Israeli police said Palestinians have made preparations for large-scale clashes after the noon prayers. However, several plainclothes Palestinian security agents were seen in the mosque compound, close to the one gate controlled by Israeli police, in an apparent effort to prevent a confrontation. The violence began after right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon visited the mosque compound on Sept. 28. Muslims run the hilltop compound in east Jerusalem, which they call the Noble Sanctuary, while Israel claims sovereignty and Jews are allowed to visit what they call the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. The Palestinian territories were closed before sunrise Friday and will remain sealed until sundown Monday, the end of Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and atonement and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Israel often closes the territories during major holidays, but it did so early this time in response to the latest violence. However, most of the fighting has taken place in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Palestinians are still free to move around in those areas. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak expressed determination to halt the fighting and somehow get the battered peace process back on track. But on both sides, mistrust and bitterness were readily apparent, despite an agreement that field commanders would seek to exercise restraint. At a memorial service Thursday for paratroopers killed in past wars, Barak, a former general, said "the time has not yet come to beat our swords into ploughshares." But he pledged to "seek any way to bring true security and peace to this tortured and suffering land." Arafat, speaking Thursday in Gaza, was asked whether the door remained open to future peace negotiations. "We hope so," he replied. "But first of all, we have to stop the massacres against our people." Despite consistently blaming one another for the carnage, the two sides were beginning to work together to contain it. Israel has rolled battle tanks away from the West Bank towns of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus. Although the army had not used the tanks to fire on rioters, their deployment on the edge of major population centers had deeply alarmed the Palestinians. Barak and Arafat held U.S.-sponsored peace talks Wednesday in Paris, but at the end of a long day of negotiations, Arafat refused to initial a cease-fire proposal.
Danny Yatom, Prime Minister Ehud Barak's top adviser, said Arafat intended to sign, but at the last minute French President Jacques Chirac persuaded him not to. Yatom, who took part in the talks, told Israel radio that Chirac told Arafat he should hold out for an international inquiry into the violence. Israel has rejected that demand.
The Israeli accusations were fiercely denied by a source at France's Elysee Presidential Palace. The source said France had worked with the United States in an attempt to broker a formal truce.

(news.ch)