SECURITY TIGHT ON FIRST FRIDAY OF RAMADAN IN JERUSALEM
Moslems gather to pray near the Dome of the Rock on the first Friday of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem, on September 14, 2007. More than 93,000 Muslims attended prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. (UPI Photo/ Debbie Hill)
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Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan King Abdullah have signed a pact to defend Jerusalem and its holy sites, officials said.
A copy of one of Islam's holiest sites has been built near the Lebanese border with Israel in honor of a visit by Iran's president, officials said.
Israeli forces say they locked down East Jerusalem Friday, keeping Palestinians under 50 from entering the al-Aqsa Mosque to prevent further clashes.
About 2,000 Israeli troops guarded tens of thousands of Muslims pouring into Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque area for final Friday Ramadan prayers, observers say.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is being pressured to continue talks with Israel even if Israel resumes construction in West Bank settlements, sources say.
The killing of four Israeli settlers in the West Bank Tuesday just before Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed in Washington has intensified fears the Palestinians could unleash a new intifada, or uprising.
Subsidized natural gas exports from Egypt to Israel are helping the Israelis build settlements in contested areas, Egyptian lawmakers complained.
Israeli soldiers have killed four Palestinians in the West Bank, two of them after a clash with Jewish settlers of a water well, stoking fears that a New Palestinian uprising is in the offing.
Egyptian authorities arrested scores of ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood in anticipation of unrest during Friday prayers across the country.
Israel's army has temporarily sealed off the West Bank and tightened security at the old city of Jerusalem to head off possible disturbances, officials said.
