The building work is a prelude to the construction of a new walkway

Violence has broken out at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque after Israelipolice moved in to break up crowds of stone-throwing Palestinianprotesters.

Hundreds of police poured into the disputed holy site in the Old City, firing rubber bullets and tear gas.

There are reports that a number of Palestinians protesters have barricaded themselves inside the mosque.

They have been angered by controversial renovation work on Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.

The building work is a prelude to the construction of anew walkway leading to the compound containing the mosque - Islam'sthird holiest site.

Palestinians say it could damage the foundations of thecompound and Muslim leaders had called for a "day of anger" on Fridayto voice their opposition to the move.

We are besieged. Ambulances are not allowed to enter to evacuate the injured Palestinian people. Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, speaking from inside al-Aqsa mosque

The Israeli authorities say renovations are needed tosafeguard the ancient site and have guaranteed that there will be nostructural damage to the area.

The compound is also revered by Jews as the site of their biblical temples.

Israeli police say 17 protesters and 15 police officers have been injured in the clashes.

Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, who is holed up inside themosque, spoke to the BBC by telephone saying that Israeli forces hadthrown a cordon around the area and were not allowing anyone in or out.

"We are besieged. Ambulances are not allowed to enter toevacuate the injured Palestinian people. Paramedics are offering firstaid to them," he said.

Dangerous flashpoint

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says that althoughat present these are relatively minor skirmishes, such is thesensitivity of this site that it has the potential to trigger muchgreater violence elsewhere.

We are working carefully and cautiously and waiting for them to come out and leave the area Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld

An Israeli Police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, told theBBC that more than 2,500 police officers had been deployed in the OldCity to prevent the unrest from spreading:

"We are in complete control of the situation. Our policeofficers and border police are located at every area in and around EastJerusalem as well as in the Temple Mount," he said.

"The rioters who have dispersed have entered inside thedifferent areas as well as the mosque and at the moment police are notentering. We are working carefully and cautiously and waiting for themto come out and leave the area.

There have been widespread protests among Palestinians and the wider Muslim world since the excavations began on Tuesday.

SACRED TO MUSLIMS Site of Prophet Muhammad's first prayers and ascent into Heaven, home to al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock SACRED TO JEWS Site of first and second Temples and the rock on which Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice

The compound area has been a flashpoint for violence since Israel captured it during the 1967 Middle East war.

In 1996, Israel's opening of an exit to a tunnel nearthe site triggered riots in which 80 people died in clashes betweenPalestinian protesters and Israeli troops.

And in 2000, the Palestinian uprising began at themosque following a controversial tour of the site by Israel's thenopposition leader, Ariel Sharon.

Since 1967, the compound has remained under Muslim jurisdiction in conjunction with neighbouring Jordan.

Once the excavations are completed, Israel plans to build a pedestrian bridge to the complex to replace a ramp damaged in a snowstorm and an earthquake in 2004.

Jews revere the compound, overlooking Judaism's Western Wall, as Temple Mount, where two destroyed biblical temples are believed to have once stood.

'All possible speed'

The official said: "The government approved continuation of construction at the approach to the Mughrabi Gate [leading into the complex] within the proposed framework, at all possible speed."

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Three ministers voted against pursuing the work, he said.

On Friday, some 200 Israeli police wielding batons clashed with protesters who threw stones at them at the plaza outside al-Aqsa, in a confrontation in which 17 Palestinians and 15 police officers were injured.

During that protest, police also evacuated Jewish worshippers from the Western Wall site.

Before the cabinet vote, Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said in broadcast remarks that the ramp was a dangerous structure that needed renovating.

He said: "There is no religious issue here" and accused "Arab extremists" of inciting violence.

In East Jerusalem, Israeli police confronted protesters for a third straight day and arrested five, said Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the national police.

Arab condemnation

The Arab League condemned the dig at a meeting in Cairo on Saturday and demanded Western nations force Israel "to stop this aggression immediately".

The Jerusalem compound has frequently been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence.

A Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 following protests at the complex after Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for the prime minister's post, visited the site as head of Israel's opposition party.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and annexed it in a step not internationally recognised.

Palestinians want the eastern part of the city as the capital of a future state.

Israeli forces demolished the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque after destroying the Moroccan Gate bridge leading to the Muslim holy site. Chief Palestinian Justice Sheikh Taysir Tamimi said that the timing of the destruction in the Old City of East Jerusalem was purposeful as all eyes are on the meeting in Mecca and political leaders are enroute.

The Sheikh told a press conference in Ramallah this afternoon that the Israeli government is continuing with its plan to demolish the historic road at the Moroccan Gate with a major threat to the western side of the Mosque.

Israeli forces expelled all Arab workers and journalists Monday, increased the military presence in the face of nonviolent protests over the past two days, and closed all roads on Tuesday.

Sheikh Tamimi pointed out that today's demolitions began a few years ago when the excavation plan was laid to destroy Al Aqsa Mosque one part at a time and build over its remains. He said that Israel is committed to ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli government is destroying Muslim neighborhoods and historic sites, demolishing Palestinian homes and closing Jerusalem to Palestinians with the Wall. It is also penetrating the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and building a synagogue and putting Jewish settlers in place.

The Sheikh said that he trusted the ability of Palestinians to defend the holy places and face the occupation. A number of Palestinian leaders issued statements and sent letters of protest, as did the Jordanian King and government, but this has not stopped Israeli forces in the systematic takeover of Jerusalem.

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Israeli police arrest Palestinians outside the Flower Gate of East Jerusalem's Old City on Friday [AFP]
Palestinian teenagers have thrown rocks at Israeli police and attacked a Canadian tourist bus in a wave of protests against what Israel says is renovation work near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque.

The violence came a day after police stormed the mosque compound, using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Muslims after Friday prayers.

In what Muslims called "a day of anger", dozens of Palestinians and several Israeli police officers were wounded.

Israel denies the repair work and accompanying excavations will come near the compound, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims.

Canadians attacked

Violence continued on Saturday as Palestinian teenagers set large rubbish containers on fire in the streets of East Jerusalem just outside the Old City and threw rocks at police gathered nearby.

Some of the rocks smashed the windows of cars parked on the side of the road and an Israeli flag was set on fire.

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Police, some on horseback and others in riot gear, responded by firing tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Angry Palestinians also pelted a bus carrying Canadians on a tour of the Mount of Olives holy site in East Jerusalem.

Dave Wood, a tourist, said: "We were just driving and all of a sudden a bunch of kids started picking up rocks and whatever they could get their hands on and started throwing it at the bus.

"This is our first day in the holy city and it was quite disturbing to say the least."

Shmuel Ben Ruby, a Jerusalem police spokesman, said a police station in East Jerusalem was also stoned on Saturday but no one was injured.

Ben Ruby said: "We expect during today there will be some more [protests]."

Police have kept a large force in the city and maintained restrictions at the holy site, barring all Muslim men under the age of 45 from praying there.

Protest programme

Muslim leaders in Jerusalem have promised to continue their protests against the work at the compound.

Sheikh Raed Salah, head of Israel's Islamic Movement, said: "We have a full programme of protests for the coming weeks in order to stop the Israeli crimes against the al-Aqsa mosque.

"Continuing the work will increase the tension and anger among Palestinians and in the Arab-Islamic world."

Protests against the construction have spread throughout the Muslim world, where demonstrators accused Israel of plotting to harm Islamic shrines.

In Amman, Jordan's capital, hundreds of people demonstrated outside UN offices on Friday demanding the organisation's intervention to protect the site.

Party and trade unions figures demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.