Ramallah (Palestine) - Muslim elders encouraged faithful to return to pray at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday after deeming that Israel had removed all security measures installed after an attack in the Old City earlier this month that sparked violence. The elders announced their decision after a report from the Waqf, a Jordanian-backed body that oversees the Muslim religious sites in Jerusalem. Israel installed metal detectors, cameras and other measures following a July 14 attack in which two policemen were shot dead. Days of violent protests followed. "The technical report showed that all obstacles the occupation (Israel) put outside Al-Aqsa mosque were removed," the head of the Waqf, Abdel-Azeem Salhab, said. "We praise this stand in the past two weeks outside Al-Aqsa and we want this stand to continue outside Al-Aqsa and now inside Al-Aqsa," he said, urging worshippers to return to the site. Israel had removed all security infrastructure from around the compound overnight in an effort to diffuse political and religious tension. The government had already dismantled metal detectors it installed in the area after the killing of the two Israeli policemen, hoping the move would calm 10 days of often-violent protests that have put the city on edge.
