KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24: Malaysia, the chair of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said on Saturday the grouping had agreed to sever ties with Israel over its works at the Al Aqsa mosque, according to the state media.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said OIC foreign ministers had agreed in principle to Malaysia's proposal to cut diplomatic relations at an extraordinary meeting in Saudi Arabia during the week.

“We suggested that Islamic countries having diplomatic relations with Israel sever the ties or recall their ambassadors temporarily to show that we are serious and do not engage in mere empty talk,” the Bernama news agency quoted Syed Hamid as saying.

The minister said the OIC’s secretary general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, had been tasked with following up on the proposal.

The United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is sending a team of experts to study an archaeological excavation close to a Jerusalem shrine that sparked recent Muslim protests, the United Nations cultural body said on Saturday.

Israel has said the dig aims to scour for relics before construction begins on a new walkway leading to the holy complex known to Muslims as Al Haram Al Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount.

The excavations, which began in early February, touched off protests by Palestinians and raised Muslim fears the compound housing Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock could be undermined. Israel denies any harm would come to the compound. —Agencies