TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Court Bars Rubble Removal from Jerusalem Shrine
Tue Sep 7, 2004 09:37 AM ET (Reuters)

By Megan Goldin

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Supreme Court has temporarily barred the removal of thousands of tons of rubble from Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site in response to a petition by archaeologists, officials said Tuesday.

The Israeli petitioners demanded that the 3,000 tons of earth from renovations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, should be sifted by archaeologists before being disposed of.

The rubble was removed from subterranean caverns underneath the shrine during construction in ancient, underground galleries by the Islamic Waqf authorities which administer the site. The Waqf says the rubble was from renovations for a mosque and does not contain any archaeological relics.

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