UNESCO to examine dig near Jerusalem shrine

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Pastor Dale Morgan

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Feb 25, 2007, 12:41:16 AM2/25/07
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*Perilous Times

UNESCO to examine dig near Jerusalem shrine*

24 Feb 2007 15:02:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - UNESCO is sending a team of experts to study
an archaeological excavation close to a Jerusalem shrine that sparked
recent Muslim protests, the United Nations cultural body said on Saturday.

Israel has said the dig aims to scour for relics before construction
begins on a new walkway leading to the holy complex known to Muslims as
al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount.

The excavations, which began in early February, touched off protests by
Palestinians and raised Muslim fears the compound housing al-Aqsa mosque
and the Dome of the Rock could be undermined.

The Old City of Jerusalem is on UNESCO's World Heritage list and on the
World Heritage in danger list. The UN body said its experts would carry
out a technical assessment of the excavation works, but did not give
further details.

Israel denies any harm would come to the compound that stands on the
site of two destroyed biblical Jewish Temples.

"Following extensive consultations with all the parties concerned, the
(UNESCO) Director-General requested the mission to leave as soon as
possible, probably early next week," the United Nations' Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation said in a statement.

"I believe that such a mission constitutes the most appropriate response
to the present situation and could also be a means of helping to
alleviate tensions and restore a climate of confidence favourable to the
dialogue that we all wish for," the agency's director general, Koichiro
Matsuura, said.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said UNESCO was welcome to
inspect the site.

"Everybody who wants to come and see this site is invited to come," she
said.

"If UNESCO wants to come and check it out that is fine. We have no
problem whatsoever."

Israeli officials have said the dig, about 50 metres (yards) from the
compound overlooking the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, would
last at least six to eight months and that no work on a walkway would
start before it is completed.

"We do not yet know what the final architectural structure of the bridge
will be," Eisin said. "It depends on the archaeological dig."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a visit to Ankara earlier
this month that he had invited Turkish authorities to visit the dig.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in Jerusalem)

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