AL-SISI CONDEMNS VIOLATIONS AT AL-AQSA MOSQUE

Cairo, 6 Dzulhijjah 1436/20 September 2015 (MINA) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged Israel to take swift measures to calm tensions around Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque after clashes this week between Israeli security forces and Palestinians.

“It is without doubt a dangerous violation of Islamic holy places,” Sisi said at a press conference with EU president Donald Tusk in Cairo on Saturday (9/19), urging Israel to take “immediate and effective steps” to defuse tensions, Al-Arabiya reported.

“The international community must realise the attachment of all Muslims to this place,” he said, warning that the unrest could have “grave consequences for peace and stability”.

The mosque, located at the site of what Jews venerate as the Temple Mount, is in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

Egypt shares a long border with Israel, and in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with it after four wars with the Jewish state. (T/P4/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)