OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC)– Sheikh Ra’ed Salah the head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands warned Sunday that Israel could trigger a regional war that would lead to a global war and use the situation in order to demolish the Aqsa Mosque.
Before going to Ayalon prison to serve his imprisonment term Sheikh Salah also told a news conference today that 2010 is very critical to the Aqsa Mosque and Israel could divide it between Muslims and Jews during the second half of this year.
He appealed to the Arab and Muslim nations to necessarily defend the Aqsa Mosque against Israel’s coming plans.
After the news conference Sheikh Salah was seen in Um Al-Faham city being escorted by a large number of Palestinians and Arab Knesset members as he was going to Ayalon prison to spend five months.
For its part the Hamas Movement strongly denounced the detention of Sheikh Salah a prominent defender of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem and considered the Israeli action as a step aimed at the Aqsa Mosque and the holy shrines.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stated in a press release on Sunday that Israel wants to prevent Sheikh Salah from assuming his role in defending the Islamic holy sites but he said that his detention would fail to bar the Palestinian people from protecting their mosques.
Dr. Aziz Dweik the speaker of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC) also deplored the imprisonment of the Sheikh and said that the detention of a national figure like Sheikh Salah was aimed at keeping him away from his role in confronting Israel’s Judaization activities in the holy land.
