CAIRO, July 26: The Arab League appealed on Monday to the United States and the United Nations to help prevent alleged plots by extremist Jewish groups to attack the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Al Quds.

"There are 24 Israeli extremist groups that are planning to attack and destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque," said Mohammed Sobeih, Palestinian delegate at the Arab League, during the opening speech of a four-day conference in Cairo.

Mr Sobeih charged that Israel was preparing public opinion for a strike on the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, through warnings that extremist groups were plotting to target the mosque.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that authorities fear Jewish extremists could be planning an air attack on Al Quds' disputed mosque compound in a bid to derail government plans to uproot settlers from the Gaza Strip.

As the occupying power, Mr Sobeih stressed that Israel had a responsibility to protect the Al Aqsa Mosque. He also called on Washington to intervene and help prevent the destruction of the mosque.

Abdul Latif Mamlouk, Lebanon's representative at the Arab League, urged UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to force Israel to implement the statutes of the Geneva Convention on the protection of territories under occupation.

Known as the Temple Mount by Jews and Al Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, the compound housing the Al Aqsa Mosque also shelters the Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque) and the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews.

The conference in Cairo, called to discuss a number of issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gathered delegates from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. -AFP