JERUSALEM, Nov 15, 01 (CWNews.com) - Israel said on Thursday that it will halt construction of a controversial mosque on the doorstep of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
"We have asked the Muslim community to stop digging the foundations because they have no building permits," said Emmanuel Nachshon, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman. Local officials in Nazareth said the digging was stopped on Wednesday. Israel had earlier approved construction of the mosque on land close to the basilica claimed by the local Islamic Trust.
Christian leaders in the Holy Land decried the construction as illegal. A statement by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land when construction began said it "deplores the decision by the Israeli government to authorize the start of work."
Nachshon said any approval of a resumption of work at the site would take into consideration the "different religious aspects" in Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
15. november 2001