UNESCO to examine dig near Jerusalem shrine

PARIS, Feb 24 (Reuters) UNESCO is sending a team of experts to study an archaeological excavation close to a Jerusalem shrine that sparked recent Muslim protests, the United Nations cultural body said today.

Israel has said the dig aims to scour for relics before construction begins on a new walkway leading to the holy complex known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount.

The excavations, which began in early February, touched off protests by Palestinians and raised Muslim fears the compound housing al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock could be undermined.

The Old City of Jerusalem is on UNESCO's World Heritage list and on the World Heritage in danger list. The UN body said its experts would carry out a technical assessment of the excavation works, but did not give further details.

Israel denies any harm would come to the compound that stands on the site of two destroyed biblical Jewish Temples.

''Following extensive consultations with all the parties concerned, the (UNESCO) Director-General requested the mission to leave as soon as possible, probably early next week,'' the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation said in a statement.

''I believe that such a mission constitutes the most appropriate response to the present situation and could also be a means of helping to alleviate tensions and restore a climate of confidence favourable to the dialogue that we all wish for,'' the agency's director general, Koichiro Matsuura, said.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said UNESCO was welcome to inspect the site.

''Everybody who wants to come and see this site is invited to come,'' she said.

''If UNESCO wants to come and check it out that is fine. We have no problem whatsoever.'' Israeli officials have said the dig, about 50 metres (yards) from the compound overlooking the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, would last at least six to eight months and that no work on a walkway would start before it is completed.

''We do not yet know what the final architectural structure of the bridge will be,'' Eisin said. ''It depends on the archaeological dig.'' Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a visit to Ankara earlier this month that he had invited Turkish authorities to visit the dig.

REUTERS SAM RK2133