RIYADH: Saudi King Salman has appealed to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and members of the Security Council for “urgent measures” after clashes at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, state media reported late on Wednesday.

Salman “expressed strong condemnation of the dangerous Israeli escalation” at the holy site where Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli police for three straight days, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

“He called for serious and speedy international efforts and for the intervention of the Security Council to take all urgent measures to stop these violations,” it said.

Salman added that the “attack on worshippers” violates the sanctity of religions “and contributes to feeding extremism and violence in the world”. SPA said Salman made the same appeal in phone calls to British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande.

Hollande warned on Wednesday that any change in the rules governing Al-Aqsa mosque compound could lead to “serious destabilisation”. The third-holiest site in Islam, the compound is also the holiest site in Judaism which venerates it as the Temple Mount.—AFP

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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