OIC'S IHSANOGLU DENOUNCES ATTACK ON WEST BANK MOSQUE

DUBAI, Dec 14 (Bernama) -- Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) secretary-general Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has denounced the aggression by Israeli extremist settlers against a mosque in Yasuf village in the occupied West Bank.

He said the profanation of the mosque, the torching of Quran copies found in
it and the spraying of racist graffiti against Islam and Muslims, represented a
blatant aggression against the sanctity of sacred places.

"This aggression confirms the urgent need for the international community to
intervene in order to compel Israel to put an end to its aggressions," he said
in a statement issued in Jeddah where the OIC is based.

The secretary-general said Israel must also be compelled to comply with the
stipulations of international law and the Geneva Convention.

Media reports said assailants vandalised the mosque in the village of Yasuf
in the northern West Bank early Friday morning.

They burned prayer carpets and holy books and left behind Hebrew graffiti,
indicating that the rampage was the work of settlers angry over the government's
plan to curb settlement construction.

-- BERNAMA