Israeli police raid mosque compound

Fifty Israel police charged into the main mosque compound in the heart of Jerusalem yesterday and fired stun grenades after Muslim worshippers threw rocks that hit Jews praying at the Western Wall below, but the scene quickly calmed, with no injuries or damage reported.

In the mosque compound, the most hotly contested site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, several dozen youths had thrown rocks toward officers at an entrance. Some stones fell on Jewish worshippers below.

Police said Islamic authorities calmed the crowd and moved them from above the Western Wall and Muslim worshippers began to leave.

The Jerusalem compound is revered by Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the Temple Mount. Both sides have acted with relative restraint there in recent months. A visit to Haram al-Sharif by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, two years ago began the latest uprising. (AP)