Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, aiming to jump-start peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, was attacked and slightly injured during a visit to a Muslim shrine when a mob of Palestinians threw shoes and jeered him.
The attack on Maher was broadcast on Channel 1 television in Israel. The diplomat, 68, appeared to be gasping for breath as he was berated and jostled by a small group that shouted “traitor” and “collaborator.” Striking someone with a shoe is a traditional Muslim insult.
Seven suspects from East Jerusalem were arrested, a police spokesman told Reuters. Israeli news accounts Monday night identified the attackers as members of a Palestinian extremist group; an Israeli police spokesman said they were from the fringe group Liberation Party.
One main militant faction, Islamic Jihad, condemned the assault, Reuters said.
Maher was taken by ambulance to Hadassah-Ein Karem Hospital. Medical personnel said he was treated for shortness of breath and released.
The attack on Maher underscores the deep ambivalence that each side in the Middle East conflict has for the peace talks. Maher, who had met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other senior Israeli officials, was the first Egyptian minister to visit Israel since the outbreak of violence between Palestinians and Israelis in September 2000.
The attack also highlighted continued radical Islamic anger at Egypt over its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which was the first by an Arab state and led to then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s assassination by Muslim extremists.
Egypt has played a mediating role in the U.S.-sponsored “road map” for peace, and Maher said his visit was an effort to restart negotiations on the troubled peace plan.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom condemned the attack, saying it “demonstrates that, unfortunately, extremists who oppose any and all expressions of peace between Israel and Arab countries still exist.”
Maher flew home to Cairo accompanied by two doctors from Hadassah Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Maher had just finished talks with Israeli officials when he apparently wanted to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to Channel 1, Maher wanted to enter Islam’s third-holiest site without Israeli security.
Israeli guards, by agreement with the foreign minister, waited outside the area known by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram ash-Sharif. They ran to help the minister after the assault.
The Palestinian Authority denounced the attack.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the assault on Mr. Maher. Mr. Maher’s visit to Israel was fully coordinated with Palestinian leadership, and the aim of the visit is to break the vicious cycle of violence and revive the peace process,” Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat told The Associated Press.
In other news, Israeli soldiers backed by tanks launched a raid into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and two Palestinians were killed in a fierce gun battle, medics told Retuers. The raid occurred hours after two Israeli army officers were killed in an ambush in central Gaza, the first Israeli deaths in fighting in the occupied territories in a month.
