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.

Some tried to push and shove their way through and troops fired a stun grenade, setting off a loud blast. One Palestinian was reported injured.

Israel has been enforcing a strict travel ban in the past three years of fighting, preventing most Palestinians from reaching Israel.

Fearing youths would provoke clashes with Israeli forces during Ramadan prayers, police allowed only older, married Palestinians to pray at the site yesterday.

Men had to be older than 45, and women at least 35.

Police set the quota at 4,000 from the West Bank and 1,000 from the Gaza Strip.

No age restrictions were imposed on Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.

Asked about the scuffles at the Bethlehem checkpoint, the military said that Palestinian officials in the city had not provided lists of names of worshippers, preventing soldiers from allowing people past checkpoints.

The army said soldiers needed to screen lists for possible security risks.

The Jerusalem compound overlooks the narrow alleys of the ancient walled city.

A trip there in October 2000 by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon then Israel's opposition leader to demonstrate Israeli claims to the site set off days of rioting that widened into the current conflict.

The plaza of mosques, known by Muslims as the Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, is the third-holiest place in Islam and is revered as the site where Muhammad ascended into heaven.

It is also home to the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, where the two biblical Jewish temples, destroyed by invading armies, were situated.

Also yesterday, vandals spray-painted graffiti on a memorial for slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin a day before crowds are to gather at the Tel Aviv plaza where he was shot during a 1995 peace rally.

Today's ceremony is to mark the anniversary of his assassination by an extremist Jew opposed to his peace efforts.

Workers used high-pressured water sprayers to clean white paint from the black memorial stones and plaque in the plaza.

Separately, the American embassy in Tel Aviv said that the US State Department was offering a $5m reward for information that helps find those behind the roadside bomb attack that destroyed a US diplomatic vehicle and killed three US security guards.

The October 15 attack in Gaza led the US to suspend official travel to the coastal territory and has also set back American involvement in peace efforts.