Old Israeli find fuels Muslim ire at Jerusalem dig

JERUSALEM, Feb 18 (Reuters) Islamic officials intensified calls for Israel to abandon a controversial dig in Jerusalem today, saying they were upset they had not been told sooner about a discovery of relics at the site three years ago.

Antiquities Authority archaeologist Yuval Baruch described in an undated article now posted on the Authority's Web site how a snowstorm eroded a ramp leading to two major mosques in Jerusalem's Old City in 2004, exposing a ''domed vestibule'' that could be from an ancient Muslim school.

The Mughrabi ramp became a tinderbox issue this month, with renewed Israeli excavations at the site sparking often violent Palestinian protests amid fears that the compound housing al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques could be undermined.

Israel said its dig aimed to scour for archaeological relics ahead of a planned renovation of the ramp, which abuts Judaism's sacred Western Wall and leads up to the religious complex, where two biblical Jewish temples once stood.

Israeli officials denied there was any risk to Muslim holy places.

But the Waqf, a Jordanian-backed body that oversees Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, pointed to the late publication of the vestibule's discovery as evidence of poor faith by Israel.

''They did not contact us,'' Waqf director Adnan Husseini told Reuters. ''They are working on their own, and this in itself carries grave consequences.'' Husseini said the vestibule dated back to the 12th century.

''I think this (publication) should be a step towards ending all the excavation work at the site. If they continue it means they are destroying the Islamic character of the city,'' he said.

In his article Baruch outlined the history of Israeli digs at the site but did not say what became of the vestibule.

Contacted by telephone, he declined to answer questions, referring all queries to the spokeswoman for the authority, which is state-funded. She could not immediately be reached.

Israel, in a bid to mollify Muslim outrage, announced last week it would freeze plans to build a new walkway replacing Mughrabi ramp, and invited a Turkish team to inspect the dig.

Israel captured the Old City along with the rest of Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 West Asia war and annexed the area as its capital in a move not recognised internationally.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Reuters AB RN2100