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Last update - 23:50 22/12/2003
Egyptian FM assaulted by Palestinians on Temple Mount
By Arnon Regular, Yoav Stern and Amos Harel

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was lightly injured Monday after being assaulted by young Palestinians during a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

According to some witnesses, Maher was attacked by Muslim extremists who attempted to choke him. Other witnesses reported that he was shoved and heckled, and that items were thrown at him in reaction to the fact that he climbed the mount via the Mugrabi Gate, which is generally an access route for non-Muslims.

Security guards and Jerusalem police drove off the assaulters, and escorted the Egyptian minister off the Mount.

Based on an agreement between Israeli security services and the Egyptian delegation, no Israeli security guards entered the Al Aqsa mosque with Maher. The Israeli guards waited outside, and helped secure Maher's descent off the mount after a scuffle began in the mosque, Channel One TV reported.

According to the report, Maher suffered from shortness of breath, and was led to a Magen David medical service station in the area for initial treatment by a doctor. Maher was later evacuated to Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem for further tests.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom went to the hospital to visit his Egyptian counterpart, who was in good condition. Shalom condemned the attack by Palestinian "extremists."

The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack on Maher, and said it would find the culprits.

Jerusalem police, late on Monday, detained seven Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem in connection with the attack on Maher.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated to Egypt's foreign minister that Israel would respond favorably to a cease-fire offer from Palestinian militants, an Israeli official said.

Foreign Minister Maher met with Sharon and senior Israeli officials during his first trip to Israel in more than two years. He came to Israel in an effort to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians on the stalled U.S.-backed road map peace plan.

Egypt, which has often played a mediator's role between Israel and the Palestinians, has been pressuring Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israel.

The militants have so far rebuffed the Egyptian efforts. Israel has also largely dismissed talk of a cease-fire, saying that the militant groups must be dismantled, as required by the road map.

But in a potential shift that could breathe new life into the efforts, Sharon on Monday indicated to Maher that Israel would halt activity against the militants if there is a cease-fire.

"We will respond to quiet with quiet," said a senior source in the prime minister's office, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sharon also raised the situation of Israeli citizen Azzam Azzam, who has been imprisoned in Egypt for espionage for the past eight years, and Maher promised he would convey the contents of their conversation to Mubarak.

The source said the meeting had gone very well, and that Maher indicated that the talks could lead to a summit between Sharon and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - something Mubarak has avoided since Sharon, a career hardliner, came to power in 2001.

"Maher spared no effort to show that they want to warm up relations," the source said.

After meeting with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Maher told a news conference that he was very optimistic that the cease-fire talks with the Palestinian factions would be successful, and that he emerged from his meetings with the Israelis with a feeling that the road map can be revived.

"Let's start this road which will lead us to a solution and to peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, which will be beneficial to the whole region," Maher said. "So, I come out from here encouraged, but the encouragement needs to be followed up by actions, we hope to see actions from both sides as soon as possible."

Shalom told reporters after the meeting that he intends to accept his Egyptian counterpart`s invitation to visit Cairo.

Under the road map, Palestinians must dismantle violent groups, and Israel has to halt construction in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and take down unauthorized outposts. Neither side has carried out these obligations.

Egypt withdrew its ambassador in protest against Israeli actions shortly after the current round of violence erupted in September 2000, and the ambassador has not returned since.

Egypt has continued to play a mediator's role, however.

Egyptian officials confirmed that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been mediating the internal Palestinian cease-fire talks, would travel to the West Bank next week with Maher for talks with Palestinian leaders.

Israeli officials hoped that Maher's visit Monday would signal a new era of closer ties.

"I am sure that this visit will contribute to the strengthening of relations between Egypt and Israel," Sharon said. "I hope this visit will contribute to our relationship with the Palestinian Authority and our efforts to reach a peace agreement."

Sharon has grown impatient with the impasse with the Palestinians and has pushed for tough action by the Palestinian Authority against the militant groups.


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