Clashes break out at holy site

Jerusalem: Israeli police forces used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing worshippers around the the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday, Israel Radio reported.

Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem's Old City to at least 3,000 following tension over Israeli repair work on a ramp leading to a holy site.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said entrance to the Friday prayers would be off limits to West Bank Palestinians, Israeli Arab and east Jerusalem men under 45.

Israeli authorities said the plan to replace a centuries-old ramp damaged in a 2004 snowstorm would not damage the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Excavation work that began earlier this week drew fierce protests in the Arab world, with leaders accusing Israel of plotting to harm Muslim holy sites.

Islamic leader Raed Salah had appealed to Israeli Arabs and Muslims around the world to rise up against the renovations, which he called tragic and criminal.

However, Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni, accuse Muslim extremists of “exploiting'' the renovation work as an excuse to stir anger against Israel.

Muslims regard the compound – home to the Dome of the Rock shrine and the Al Aqsa mosque - as the place where Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) ascended to heaven.