MIDDLE EAST: The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Ahmed Maher, was attacked by Palestinian extremists during a prayer visit at Jerusalem's Temple Mount yesterday.
He had to be extricated from the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli police and security personnel, and was brought to hospital after complaining that he was having trouble breathing. Mr Maher returned to Egypt last night on his release from Israel's Hadassah Hospital after three hours of checks, with doctors pronouncing him to be in good condition with no physical injuries.
Embarrassed at the assault on a Muslim worshipper at a site overseen by a Palestinian Muslim trust, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Korei,called the incident "very unfortunate" and pledged to meet Egyptian demands for a full investigation.
It appears that a small group of extremists, which calls itself the Palestinian Freedom Front, was mainly to blame. As Mr Maher entered the mosque, some protesters screamed out: "You are not welcome" and "You are collaborating with the slaughterers of Muslims", a reference to the foreign minister's meetings earlier in the day with Israeli leaders.
A chorus of voices shouted: "Jihad [Holy War\] will rise in Egypt," Mr Maher was then reportedly pelted with shoes and some people tried to attack him. Israeli security personnel, who had waited outside the mosque, moved in to rescue him and carried him part of the way out of the Temple Mount compound to safety.
Mr Maher (68) was making his first visit to Israel in more than two years. After meetings with Mr Sharon and other Israeli officials earlier in the day, the foreign minister had pronounced himself "encouraged" about the prospects for a unilateral Palestinian intifada ceasefire and a return to the "road map" peace framework. Underlining the urgency, two Israelis were killed last night by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip.
However his day took a dramatic turn for the worse when he and his entourage made their way onto the Temple Mount plaza, or Haram al-Sharif, for prayers at Al-Aqsa, the third holiest shrine in Islam, at about 5 p.m.
Israeli police and security officials accompanied him as far as the plaza, where Israel also claims sovereignty, but to minimise potential friction, only Egyptian security men went with him into the mosque.
There was some speculation that Mr Maher had also offended the Muslim faithful by ascending to the Mount via the Mugrabi Gate, usually used by non-Muslims. But the main cause was plainly because he had met the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, earlier in the day. He is widely reviled by Palestinians. Indeed it was after a visit by Mr Sharon to the same site, in September 2000, that the ongoing second intifada erupted.
The attack on Mr Maher, said the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Silvan Shalom, "shows that there are still those who oppose all peaceful contacts between Arab states and Israel".
Mr Maher was meeting Israelis only on the visit, with Mr Sharon's government having said it would not host foreign ministers who meet the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat. This, too, was likely a source of Palestinian anger.
He explained at a press conference earlier in the day that the trip was "a laser beam on Israel" and that he maintained "constant dialogue" with the Palestinian leadership. Egypt has been fostering ongoing talks between Mr Korei and leaders of Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups with a view to a ceasefire.