Protests continue against Israeli construction at Muslim holy site; ADDS bite

(8 Feb 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Pull back to wide of site (compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, home of the Al Aqsa mosque complex) 2. Various of bulldozer working near site 3. Policemen around site 4. Sign reading 'City of David' (in English) 5. Palestinian protesters gathered near site, chanting 6. Police looking on, protesters behind railing 7. Close up police truncheon, pull back to wide shot 8. Pull back from protesters chanting 9. Palestinian girls chanting "God is great" 10. Pan across Muslim clerics at demonstration 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Adnan Husseini, Chairman of Waqf, (Islamic endowment devoted to buildings of religious significance): "Well, they (the Israelis) hold responsibility and they will feel later that they have made a big mistake." 12. Mid shot demonstration STORYLINE Palestinians continued their demonstrations outside one of the Holy Land's most contentious religious sites on Thursday, protesting against construction work being carried out by Israel on a new ramp up to the hilltop compound. The site - known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, home of the Al Aqsa mosque complex and Dome of the Rock - is a frequent trigger of confrontation. Protesters were kept well behind railings, with double the usual number of Israeli police deployed at the site to quell any violence. Waqf chairman Adnan Husseini, who was at the protest, said he and his colleagues first learned about the construction plans through media reports and warned the police and Jerusalem city council that the plan would spark fierce opposition. "They will feel later that they have made a big mistake," Husseini said. When Israel opened a tunnel alongside the compound in 1996, it sparked clashes that killed 80 people. In 2000, then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the site sparked the second intifada (uprising) and years of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Israel has controlled the compound since 1967, when it captured east Jerusalem from Jordan, but has left its administration largely to Jordan and the Palestinians. Israel says the eight-month construction project is meant to replace a centuries-old earthen ramp that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago. It has promised the work would cause no harm to Islamic holy sites, but those assurances have not calmed Muslim outrage over the project. Israeli officials say Islamic radicals are using the issue to whip up hostile sentiment, pointing out that the work site is 50 metres (yards) away from the wall around the mosque complex. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...