Egyptian envoy attacked by Muslim extremists

EGYPTIAN Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was attacked by Muslim extremists as he prayed yesterday at one of Islam’s holiest sites, the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Mr Maher had left ceasefire talks with the Israeli leadership to pray at the mosque in the Old City when a small group of extremist worshippers started shouting at him and trying to assault him, witnesses said. They hurled shoes at him, one of Islam's worst insults.

Bodyguards surrounded Maher and hustled him out of the compound, supporting him briefly as he appeared to lose his balance.

Witnesses heard him saying, "I'm going to choke, I'm going to choke," as Muslims continued to throw shoes at him.

Maher left the compound at a gate above the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site, and entered an Israeli ambulance, where medics treated him. Half an hour later, he was being taken to an Israeli hospital, police said.

Two other members of Maher's entourage were taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment, the rescue service said.

The incident was an unusual assault on an official of a leading Muslim country by fellow Muslims. The mosque site is one of the most hotly contested places in Mideast diplomacy also the location of the biblical Jewish Temples.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated to Maher that Israel would respond favourably to a ceasefire offer from Palestinian militants, an Israeli official said.

Maher met Sharon and other senior Israeli officials during his first trip to Israel in more than two years.

He was in Israel in an effort to restart talks on the stalled road map plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Egypt, which has often played a mediator's role between Israel and the Palestinians, has been pressuring Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israel.

The militants have so far rebuffed the Egyptian efforts. Israel has also largely dismissed talk of a ceasefire, saying that the militant groups must be dismantled, as required by the road map.

But in a potential shift that could breathe new life into the efforts, Sharon indicated to Maher that Israel would halt activity against the militants if there is a cease-fire.

"We will respond to quiet with quiet," said a senior source in the prime minister's office.

The source said the meeting had gone very well, and that Maher indicated that the talks could lead to a summit between Sharon and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak something Mubarak has avoided since Sharon, a career hard-liner, came to power in 2001.

Maher said he was very optimistic that the ceasefire talks with the Palestinian factions would be successful and that the road map can be revived.

The road map lays out a process supposed to lead to a Palestinian state in 2005.