February 21, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 3, 1428

RAMALLAH, Feb 20: The Palestinian parliament urged Arab states on Tuesday to cut ties with Israel in protest at excavation work near al-Aqsa mosque, which has triggered Muslim protests.

The Palestinian Legislative Council, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, also called on the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel to safeguard Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem.

The council said Arab states should “sever diplomatic and economic ties (with Israel) and not establish new ones” in response to the excavation near Islam’s third holiest site.

Few Arab countries have formal ties with Israel.—Reuters