Jakarta: The Indonesiangovernment has asked Israelto stop excavation work near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine as it could trigger new tensionsand hamper the peace process in the region, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayudasaid here today (Feb 9, 2007).

"We want to call Israelto terminate this (excavation)," Wirayuda told reporters, adding that"it could disturb (the activity of) the mosque that has been considered asa holy building for the Muslims in the world and create a new tension that canhinder peace process in the Middle East".

The excavation begun on Tuesday by Israel hasdrawn protests from Palestinian and other Muslim countries in the region, hesaid.

Indonesia,which has no diplomatic relations with Israel,has been taking part in efforts to create peace in the Middle East region for some years. It has initiated a meeting of Hamasand Fatah leaders and has sent over 1,000 troops to Lebanon for peacekeepingoperations.