Angry Muslim worshipers expel senior Fatah official from Temple Mount

Fatah representatives accuse Hamas supporters of being behind the expulsion of Azzam Ahmed.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Azzam Ahmed 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)
Azzam Ahmed 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)
Angry Muslim worshipers on Tuesday expelled a senior Fatah official from the Temple Mount compound.
The official, Azzam Ahmed, was accompanying a Jordanian delegation on a tour of the compound when worshipers began hurling abuse at him.
Eyewitnesses said that the worshipers called on Ahmed to leave the area after accusing him of failing to coordinate his visit with the Fatah leadership in east Jerusalem.
A Fatah activist in the city told The Jerusalem Post that Ahmed and the Jordanian delegation notified only the Israeli authorities of their intention to visit the site.
“Had he told us that he was coming, we would have provided him with security and prevented the embarrassing incident,” the activist said. He and other Fatah representatives accused Hamas supporters of being behind the expulsion of Ahmed.
Another eyewitness said that the protesters surrounded the Fatah and Jordanian officials and began chanting slogans against the Palestinian Authority leadership and the Egyptian army.
In a video posted on the Internet, the protesters are heard shouting at Ahmed, “Get out of here!” and “Don’t throw shoes at him because he doesn’t even deserve them.”