A handful of youth were arrested on a day that saw 3,000 officers deployed after last week’s clashes. To calm tensions, Olmert has accepted an “investigation” by Turkey of the controversial works.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – Friday prayers at Temple Mount passed uneventfully today after last week’s violent clashes between Israeli police and Muslim protesters. Military radio said 6,000 people attended prayers and only five youth were reportedly arrested in east Jerusalem after attacking officers blocking the entrance to the compound. Another source said around 15 young people were arrested.

It is works undertaken by the Israeli authorities at the foot of the compound that have sparked protests. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, repair work is needed to make an entrance walkway safer, because it is “at risk” after a snow storm two years ago. Wooden support beams would be replaced with concrete pillars. The Islamic world tends to believe the action threatens to weaken the compound’s foundations and that the whole thing is part of a plan to “Judaise” Jerusalem.

Yesterday, the muftì of the Holy City, Mohammad Hussein, and the leader of the Arab Israeli Islamic movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, called for a new “day of mobilization” against the works. The latter did not appear in the mosque today. Indicted by police as being the main instigator of unrest, he has been banned by a Jerusalem court from going within 150m of the area for 60 days.

Up until this morning, some 3,000 police were deployed in the area and across the old city in the lead-up to Friday prayers. Police also banned entrance men aged less than 50 and women aged less than 40 from entering the site. The decision was prompted by the fact that middle-aged people were identified among the stone throwers in last week’s incidents.

To calm tensions, the government has even allowed Turkey to “inspect” works under way. Yesterday, the Turkish premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a joint press conference in Ankara with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, announced that the Turkish ambassador to Israel would lead a delegation to “investigate” works.

Erdogan said Olmert had presented him with a "detailed picture of the area," but that he was not "100% convinced." So an inspection will take place, agreed to by Olmert because "Israel has nothing to hide." He added: "We shall cooperate with everyone and we will be happy to host the delegation, in order to show that the Israeli version is correct and accurate.”

• israel
• turkey
• works
• compound
• mosques
• islam
• incidents
• investigation