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A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 9 March 2019

Al-Aqsa prayers pass peacefully after Israel-Jordan talks

ISABEL DEBRE vowed to continue resisting
Associated Press the Israeli closure.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prayers Demonstrations have de-
passed peacefully at Jeru- volved into standoffs with
salem’s most sensitive holy police. Israel has barred
site Friday, as Jordan con- several guards and high-
firmed it was negotiating ranking Waqf officials from
with Israel to ease mounting the compound and arrest-
tensions after Israel ordered ed dozens of Palestinians
the closure of a building at under suspicions of inciting
the sacred compound. violence at the site.
Israeli police were out in That the closure of one
force after Palestinian lead- building containing some
ers called for mass protests offices and a small library
during weekly prayers at can spark such a reaction
Al-Aqsa Mosque following speaks to the sensitivity and
a month of simmering hos- potency of the plateau, re-
tility over the Israeli closure vered by Jews as the Tem-
of a building known as the ple Mount and by Muslims
“Gate of Mercy.” as the Noble Sanctuary. The
Thousands of worshippers walled compound, home
attended noon prayers but to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and
dispersed afterward with- the golden Dome of the
out incident. A Jordanian Palestinians pray at al-Aqsa mosque compound Friday, March 8, 2019. Rock, is the third-holiest site
official, speaking on condi- Associated Press in Islam and the holiest site
tion of anonymity because Jerusalem, has staged pe- council should regain full spect water leaks and dis- of Judaism and has been
he was not authorized to riodic prayer-protests since access to the building like cuss renovation plans, the the source of major con-
speak to the media, con- late February to call for the any other in the holy espla- Waqf — which has keys to frontations in the past.
firmed that Jordan — the reopening of the shuttered nade. For the past 16 years, the building — did not clear With a few exceptions, a
custodian of the sacred building. Israel closed the according to Waqf secre- the building’s opening with tenuous calm has prevailed
compound — held “inten- structure in 2003, claiming tary Bassem Abu Labda, Israeli authorities for the first at the compound, in large
sive talks” with Israeli au- it was used by a heritage the Waqf has unsuccessful- time, said Abu Labda. part due to intricate secu-
thorities this week to defuse organization with ties to the ly petitioned Israeli authori- Israel responded by plac- rity arrangements between
tensions. Hamas militant group. ties to reopen the building. ing a chain over the door, Israeli authorities and the
The Waqf, a Jordanian ap- The Waqf contends that Last month, when a dele- prompting immediate Waqf. But any change in
pointed body that over- because the heritage gation from Jordan toured outrage from Palestinian the status quo can inflame
sees Muslim holy sites in group is now defunct, the the dilapidated hall to in- worshippers. The Waqf has tensions. q

Algerians stage largest protest yet against Bouteflika

By AOMAR OUALI the public eye since a Demonstrations were held
Associated Press stroke in 2013. The protest- in other Algerian cities,
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — ers converged after prayers from Tizi Ouzou in the Kaby-
Hundreds of thousands while onlookers threw flow- lie region east of the capi-
of protesters flooded the ers and confetti from flag- tal to the southern reaches
streets of the Algerian capi- draped balconies. Security of what is Africa’s largest
tal in their third, and larg- forces watched from the country by surface. The reli-
est, Friday protest to try to sidelines. It’s the third Friday able online site TSA Algerie
break President Abdelaziz running people have pro- said protests were held in
Bouteflika’s hold on power. tested, and the demonstra- Ghardaia and the desert
Wrapped in Algerian flags, tions have continued into city of Hassi Messaoud, a
singing and tossing flowers, the week. Calls have gone site for Algeria’s oil fields.
festive crowds overflowed out on social media for a Hydrocarbons are the na-
into all the main boulevards general strike if the govern- tion’s main source of in-
and other streets in the city Algerian lawyers carrying their national flag march to the ment doesn’t cede. come.
on the Mediterranean. constitutional council in a protest against President Abdelaziz “Game over” was scrawled More than a dozen po-
There was no official count Bouteflika, Thursday March 7, 2019 in Algiers. on a poster held high by litical parties and unions
of the crowd size, but a po- Associated Press some protesters, a slogan have thrown their support
lice chief estimated about tiles from the roof of the an- in a Geneva hospital for seen at other demonstra- behind the widening street
500,000 when asked. tiquities museum to lob at nearly two weeks for what tions. Among the chants protests.
Tensions flared as the hours- police, drawing volleys of his office described as was “4 plus 1 = 0” — an il- At a meeting that end-
long march began to dis- tear gas. medical tests. lusion to Bouteflika’s bid for ed late Thursday, 15 op-
perse, with police firing tear The troublemakers weren’t The protesters are chal- a fifth term. His eligibility, position parties and four
gas at flanks of protesters representative of the much lenging Bouteflika’s fitness and that of 20 other can- unions praised the protest
trying to move toward the larger streams of peaceful to run for a fifth term in next didates, is to be decided movement and criticized
presidential palace, re- protesters pouring through month’s election. The Al- next week by the Constitu- the government for its
peating a scenario from streets with chants against gerian leader has been in tional Council. Several po- “stubborn power” in insist-
last Friday’s protest. Small Bouteflika, who has been power since 1999 but has tential heavyweights have ing upon the elections in
groups were seen pulling far from the angry crowds been all but absent from withdrawn from the race. April.q