Angry scuffles break out as Israeli police bar Muslims from praying at shrine

ISRAEL limited access to Muslim worshippers to a disputed shrine for special prayers yesterday during the holy month of Ramadan, setting off an angry scuffle, while the US offered a $5 million reward in the investigation of a deadly bombing of a US convoy.

About 175,000 Palestinians flocked to the sacred hilltop plaza in Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers, while others were turned away at army checkpoints. Control over the site, revered by Muslims and Jews, is one of the most hotly contested issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, soldiers prevented a few hundred worshippers from entering Jerusalem.