SYRIA: A demonstration is held in Damascus to protest excavations around al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Thousands demonstrate in Damascus against the excavations in al-Aqsa Mosque. Thousands of Syrians demonstrated on Tuesday (February 13) condemning the Israeli excavations around al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. They carried placards bearing anti-Israeli slogans and burnt Israeli flags. Hamdi Jamal al-Din, the sheikh of a mosque in the town of Dariyah near Damascus, told Reuters: "We are here to support Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque and al-Aqsa is for all Muslims. We will sacrifice our blood and souls for al-Aqsa." Palestinians have warned Israel the work near a compound housing the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, could derail a shaky truce in Gaza with the Jewish state. Hanan Idris, a demonstrator, told Reuters: "Al-Aqsa belongs to us and not to them. There is no Jewish temple there. People from around the world come to al-Aqsa to see the place where the prophet (Mohammad) peace be upon him ascended to heaven." Arab states have asked Israel to halt the digging, which began on Tuesday (February 6), saying it could damage the mosque's foundations. Israel has said the dig in search of ancient artefacts beneath the compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, would not harm the sacred site in Jerusalem's walled Old City, at the heart of Arab-Israeli conflict.

ITN Source | February 14, 2007

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