Israeli police shut down Islamic institute

The police today shut down an Islamic institute in northern Israel over alleged ties with Hamas, a move that underscored government concern over Islamist influence among the Jewish state's Arab citizens.

Sheikh Raed Salah, who founded the Al-Aqsa Institute that tracks Israeli activities near al-Aqsa mosque in Arab East Jerusalem, denied any ties with Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group that has carried out suicide bombings in Israel.

The police said they seized documents, computers and other material belonging to the institute in the Israeli Arab town of Umm el-Fahm, before closing it down.

A special order issued by Defence Minister Ehud Barak declared the institute illegal.

A police statement said the Al-Aqsa institute was conducting "joint activities" with Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction last year and has rejected Western calls to denounce violence.

Mr Salah said the institute was founded 10 years ago and has an Israeli licence to operate. Some 20 percent of Israel's citizens are Arabs and their identification with the Palestinian cause and growing Islamist influence has deepened concerns among many Jewish Israelis.

Mr Salah, who heads the Islamic Movement in Northern Israel, has taken part in protests in Jerusalem over Israeli archaeological digs near a religious compound where al-Aqsa mosque is located.

Israel has denied allegations by Muslim leaders that such excavations endanger the foundations of the mosque.