(2 Jan 1998) Natural Sound

More than 150-thousand Muslims gathered to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on the first Friday of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

They warned that the mosque, the third holiest Islamic shrine, was in danger from Jewish extremists who wanted to destroy it.

There was heavy security in and around Jerusalem and the Israeli army closed part of the West Bank town of Hebron after a clash between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

Thousands of Muslims crammed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.

The large number of people prompted nervous Israeli authorities to set up a massive security operation.

Hundreds of Israeli police and soldiers patrolled Jerusalem's Old City as Muslims came to attend prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan, Islam's holy month of fasting.

Israel said the extra security was to prevent any provocation by Jewish or Muslim extremists during prayers.

Two Jewish extremists were arrested last week for allegedly planning to provoke widespread violence during Ramadan by tossing a pig's head into the mosque compound.

The incident fuelled Muslim suspicions that Jews want to destroy the mosque, which is built on the site of the ancient Jewish temples.

The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remained in Gaza where he prayed at a private mosque in his offices.

In Hebron, the army closed off an area in the centre of the city after two firebombs were thrown near a kinder garden in a Jewish area of town.

They exploded but there were no injuries.

Afterward, scuffling broke out between settlers and Palestinians.

This Palestinian was injured by stones thrown by the settlers.

The army arrested five other Palestinians and an Israeli after the clash.

Most of the world's Islamic communities began observing Ramadan, a month of fasting from dawn to dusk, on December 30.

Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex during daylight hours as an act of sacrifice.

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