NAZARETH, Jan 9, 02 (CWNews.com) - Israel's government on Wednesday ordered a halt to all work on a controversial mosque being built on the doorstep of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
A senior government official told the Reuters news agency that the Israeli cabinet had unanimously decided to suspend construction until a new plan was drawn up. The mosque had met fierce opposition both within the Holy Land and internationally, including from the US and the Vatican, as well as from both Christian and moderate Muslim leaders. The official said a ministerial committee now had been given two weeks to submit an alternative plan but declined to say whether it would be necessary to move the mosque to a new site.
Israel had granted permission for the construction to an Islamic group in 1999, despite plans by the local city government to use the space for a square to accommodate Jubilee Year pilgrims. The ruling also contradicted an independent commission's recommendation against construction on the site. Critics said Israel has been using the controversy in the country's largest Arab city to sow division between Christians and Muslims or to garner Israeli Arab votes in elections.
A representative of the group Islamic Trust said the government's decision would be honored. "We are not seeking an alternative locale, God forbid," the representative, Nawaf Zobi, told Israel Radio. "We're only halting our work as (the decision) is with the government now."
The senior government official told Reuters the cabinet decision followed the Islamic Trust's failure to suspend work and obtain proper building permits.
Another government source told Reuters that Israel was mindful of fraying ties with the Vatican following its blockade on Bethlehem during Christmas, one of a series of steps it says it has taken to combat the 15-month-old intifada. "Things came to a head last month, when (Foreign Minister) Shimon Peres was in the Vatican and the Pope did not agree to meet with him," the source said. "This was a sign of extreme displeasure."
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
9. januar 2002