Palestinian guards foil attack against Al-Aqsa

Hatim Abdulqader, who is in charge of the Jerusalem portfolio in the Fatah movement, told Arab News the guards succeeded in stopping the gunman as he went up the stairs of a building adjacent to the mosque. He added security forces are working round the clock to foil any Israeli attacks against the mosque.

The Al Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said the man was handed over to Israeli police, who later claimed he was mad. He has since been transferred to an unknown location.

The foundation added a machine gun was strapped on his back. It claimed he had intended to massacre worshippers during the dawn prayer in a similar way to Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 opened fire at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, killing at least 29 people and injuring dozens more.

A systematic policy pursued by the Israeli government was behind frequent assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque, not just efforts by extremist Zionist groups or individuals, the foundation added.

Adnan Al-Husseini, the governor of Al-Qods, said the plot "could not be carried out by a mad man." He accused rightist Jewish movements of planning the incident; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.