Islamic meet slams Israeli breach

RIYADH: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference condemned on Sunday the Israeli police action at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, warning that it could have a "dangerous outcome."

Israeli police said they entered the compound after Palestinian demonstrators threw stones at visitors to the holy site.

"This is a violation of all Muslim sanctuaries," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the OIC, the world's largest Islamic association, said in a statement.

He said "frequent" Israeli breaches of the mosque compound, known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, are "very dangerous and could lead to a negative outcome."

He called on the global Islamic community to take a stand to defend Islamic holy sites, and warned that any damage to the mosque could have "unpredictable consequences" for international peace and security.

The OIC late on Sunday said in a statement it had called an extraordinary meeting for November 1 in Jeddah of its executive committee, which groups Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Senegal, Uganda and Tajikistan.

The meeting, to which the Palestinians and Morocco -- the chair of the OIC's Al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee -- have also been invited, will study "all means available to counteract the Israeli violations," the statement said.

It will also seek ways "to put an end to Israeli aggressions at Al-Aqsa" and "protect, in cooperation with the international community, Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem."