July 26, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1424

TEL AVIV, July 25: Israeli police on Friday restricted access for Muslims to the Haram al Sharif, in occupied Al Quds, fearing protests by Palestinians against a decision to allow visits by Israelis and foreign tourists.

Police have banned men under the age of 40 from what Jews know as Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary,

Around a hundred police have also been deployed around the Muslim quarter in the walled old sector of the holy city where the compound is located, according to sources.

Palestinian officials on Thursday, at a meeting attended by Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah, denounced the visits to the site which have been taking place under police protection for more than a month.

The meeting, which included representatives from a raft of Palestinian organizations, had “discussed the serious situation in Jerusalem (Al Quds) ] ... especially the concerns over the Al Aqsa mosque,” said one official source.

A statement issued after the meeting said that “the permission given by the Israeli forces for extremists and settlers to enter the Al Aqsa mosque is particularly dangerous” given past violence.

Mr Arafat also urged Muslims to prevent “the danger of Israeli incursions into the Al Aqsa mosque”, the statement added.

Israel’s minister for internal security Tzahi Hanegbi also confirmed that he had decided to continue to authorize organized visits to the site.

“Some Jews and other non-Muslims can have the opportunity to visit the compound, but at this stage it is not a question of allowing them to pray in public,” the minister told Israeli military radio.

Mr Hanegbi said that he was merely restoring the status quo that existed before the outbreak of the intifada.

The Palestinian intifada erupted 33 months ago following a controversial visit to the site by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon, now Israel’s prime minister.

Non-Muslims were then barred from the site, and an age limit was slapped on Muslims praying there, to avoid demonstrations by young militants.

Several ultra-nationalist Israeli groups have been consistently lobbying for the right of Jews to pray at the site.

But Uri Lupolianski, the first ever ultra-orthodox mayor of the holy city, has denounced the resumption of visits by non-Muslims to the site as a provocation.

Permission for the visits came from Mr Sharon, Hanegbi and the police.

BOY SHOT DEAD: A four-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead near the West Bank village of Bartaa on Friday when an Israeli soldier fired a hail of bullets into his grandfather’s car, sparking violent demonstrations.

The boy’s two sisters were also wounded in the incident, which the army said was caused by an accidental discharge of a machinegun manned by a soldier who was on top of an armoured vehicle.

“One boy was killed and two girls were wounded,” an army spokesman said.

“We express our regrets and an inquiry has been launched.” The youngster, named as Mahmud Qabha, was killed near a checkpoint located to the west of Jenin and close to a new security fence being built by the Israelis across the West Bank.

The boy’s grandfather said he had parked his Mitsubishi jeep some 200 metres away from the tank when shots rang out without warning.

“Immediately the tank shot without any warning. The bullets cut through the head of my grandchild,” Mustafa Atatra said.

“About 16 bullets went into the car. My wife was also wounded in the leg.”

Bartaa’s mayor said the other two children, aged six and seven, had been injured in the incident and taken to hospital.

An army statement later said that the girls were taken for treatment to a hospital in Israel.

A pool of blood could be seen on the seat and floor of the blue and grey-coloured jeep which was still parked at the scene of the shooting. Its windows had been shattered.

As news filtered through to locals, some 2,000 gathered at the scene to remonstrate with the army. Some threw stones at army jeeps, shattering windows.

Others accused soldiers of “killing our children” as a Palestinian flag was briefly planted on top of one of the army vehicles.

The army responded by firing into the air and releasing teargas. No one was injured.

The atmosphere in the area has been soured by the construction of the fence, which takes the form of a concrete wall around Jenin, regarded as a key staging post for Palestinian militants.

An Israeli border guard on Thursday shot and killed a Bedouin carrying illegal Palestinian workers in his vehicle in southern Israel.

After the shooting of the Bedouin, named as 23-year-old Mohammed Bau al Jihan, dozens of members of his tribe threw stones at police near the scene of the incident in the Negev, injuring one. —AFP