Islamic leader urges Israeli Arabs to protest construction work near holy site in Jerusalem

(AP) A fiery Islamic leader called on his fellow Israeli Arabs and Muslims around the world Thursday to rise up in protest of Israeli construction work near a holy site in Jerusalem.

Fearing thousands might heed his call, Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem's Old City Friday morning as the city braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land's most contentious religious site.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco told Israel Radio that about 3,000 security officers were posted around the city because of "intelligence indications" that disturbances could erupt.

The dispute centers on Israel's decision to begin repair work on an earthen ramp leading to the hilltop compound known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. The centuries-old ramp was damaged in a 2004 snowstorm, and Israeli authorities promised that its plan to replace it would not damage the holy site, about 60 yards way.

But Muslim leaders began protesting the work as soon as it started Tuesday, and they called for wide-scale demonstrations Friday.

"The aggression happening now is a tragedy, a crime," Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, told The Associated Press. He accused Israel of declaring "a regional, religious war."

Israeli officials have said Muslim extremists are using the renovation work as a pretext to stoke anger against Israel. Speaking during a visit to Spain on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni accused "political extremists" of trying to "exploit this situation."

The site, home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque, is especially important to Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. Not only is it Islam's third-holiest site, from where they believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, but it also is a focal point of their national pride.

The compound is also sacred to Jews as the site of their biblical temples.

Israel has controlled the contentious compound since the 1967 Mideast War, but has left its administration largely to the Jordanian-controlled trust known as the Waqf and to the Palestinians.

When fighting broke out between Israel and the Palestinians in 2000, Israeli restrictions prevented many Palestinians from the West Bank from praying at Al Aqsa. Salah began busing in Muslims from northern Israel to take their place, and his power at the site grew. He also has taken a lead in demonstrating against perceived Israeli violations at the site, and is known by many Palestinians as the "Sheik of Al Aqsa."

Salah called for a large demonstration in the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth on Friday, which he declared "Al Aqsa Day."

"This is the first step to get all the Palestinians inside Israel energized to participate in the protests," he said, adding that he hoped Muslims around the world would join.

Muslim leaders abroad have denounced the work near the site, and UNESCO called on Israel "to suspend any action that could endanger the spirit of mutual respect until such time as the will to dialogue prevails once again."

In an effort to resolve the dispute, Israeli lawmaker Israel Hasson proposed installing cameras at the construction site and broadcasting the scene live on the Internet so "all the Arab world would be able to see everything that goes on there."

The Israel Antiquities Authority, which is carrying out the repair work and associated excavations, said it was looking into the idea, spokeswoman Osnat Goaz said.

Adnan Husseini, chairman of the Waqf rejected the proposal as "ridiculous."

Salah also called the Webcam idea absurd. "If the criminal films his crime, does that make him innocent?" he asked.

Salah, 48, the leader of the radical northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel, has been a controversial figure in Israel for years. Israel jailed him for more than two years, saying his organization funneled money to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings in Israel.

On Wednesday, Salah scuffled outside the Jerusalem shrine with Israeli police, who briefly detained him for questioning. They issued a 10-day restraining order barring Salah from coming within 150 yards of Jerusalem's Old City.

On Thursday, Salah heartily greeted supporters outside a Jerusalem fire station within yards of the sector forbidden to him. Dozens of police gathered on nearby street corners. Nearby, about 100 Palestinians briefly blocked an entrance to the Old City before dispersing peacefully, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Israeli politicians have accused Salah of stoking the conflict over the planned eight-month construction project to unite Israel's Arabs behind him and burnish his image as the defender of Al Aqsa mosque.

"He knows very well that the repair work ... has nothing to do with the Temple Mount," said ultra-nationalist lawmaker Arieh Eldad. "But he wants to improve his standing in the Islamic Movement. The wider the rioting and the more people hurt, the stronger a leader he is."

Israeli police deployed about 2,000 officers _ double the normal level _ through the Old City and nearby areas Thursday and expected at least that many Friday, when mosque attendance peaks, Rosenfeld said.

Police said they would put up roadblocks in the area and fly over the site in a helicopter. West Bank Palestinians would be barred, as would Israeli Arabs and east Jerusalem men under 45, police said.