Prince William visits flashpoint Jerusalem mosque compound

JERUSALEM: Prince William visited Jerusalem’s super-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday as he wrapped up a landmark Middle East tour during which he has tiptoed through the region’s diplomatic minefield.

William wandered through the Al-Aqsa compound accompanied by a large Israeli security detail and members of the Jordanian-run religious trust that administers it. British officials said it was the first time a member of the royal family had ever visited the compound, which houses the Al-Aqsa mosque and the iconic golden-topped Dome of the Rock. The second-in-line to the British throne also visited the adjacent Western Wall, the holiest place at which Jews are allowed to pray, accompanied by its director general and by Britain’s chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. Since Israel occupied Arab east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967, hardline Jewish activists have campaigned for the right to pray inside the mosque compound, the most inflammatory single issue of the Middle East conflict.