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Egypt Reaffirms Palestinians' Sovereignty Over Jerusalem's Shrines
Egypt has reaffirmed Palestinians' sovereignty over the shrines in East Jerusalem, the official Middle East News Agency reported Monday.
Osama al-Baz, the top advisor of President Hosni Mubarak, said Sunday night that the al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, house to Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques, should be run by a religious administration under the Palestinians' sovereignty.
"Arabs and Palestinians can never accept any Israeli sovereignty over this area," Baz said at an Islamic intellectual forum.
The sovereignty over the site, known to Jews as Temple Mount, is the chief block to a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement.
Baz noted that "a just and comprehensive" peace in the region can never be reached unless the Arab rights are honored.
He said that the Arab and Islamic countries have made it clear that only Muslims should have sovereignty over that spot.
The senior Egyptian official called on the Jewish state to stop its continued brutalities against unarmed Palestinians who are fighting against Israel's occupation.
"The Israelis should be realistic, stop their violence and work for peace," Baz said.
Over 320 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed and thousands more injured in the ongoing clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces since Israeli right-wing leader Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque on September 28.
Mubarak also said on Sunday that Jerusalem was a "very sensitive" issue that even the Palestinian authority has no right to give it up, adding that nobody can touch the sacredness of the Islamic holy site in East Jerusalem.
Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has been playing a key mediatory role in the Middle East peace process.
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