'Religious war' warning in holy site row

An Israeli Islamic leader warned of “religious war” and Iran’s supreme leader urged retaliation against Israel today over new excavations and repairs in Jerusalem’s Old City, outside the Holy Land’s most explosive religious site.

Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and several of his followers scuffled with police guarding labourers carrying out preliminary work on a new ramp up to the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, home of the Al Aqsa mosque complex.

After being arrested and brought to a Jerusalem court, Salah accused Israel of “the crime of demolishing a part of the blessed Al Aqsa compound” and of “pushing the whole region to religious war.”

The court ordered him to remain at least 150 metres away from the Old City walls for ten days, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Meanwhile, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Islamic nations to retaliate against Israel over the excavations.

He did not say what sort of response he intended, but he said the Islamic world should make Israel “regret” what it is doing.

Israeli officials say Islamic radicals are using the issue to whip up hostile sentiment, pointing out that the work site is 50 metres away from the wall around the mosque complex.