Last update - 00:00 22/03/2007
Court bars Islamic Movement northern branch chief from entering J'lem
By Jonathan Lis and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies
Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Thursday issued a restraining order barring the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, from entering the city for eight days.
The court issued the injunction against Salah until a verdict is reached in his trial for incitement, as well as breaching a court order barring him from appearing in public in a group and organizing public protests in Jerusalem.
During the hearing, police told the court that Salah is a threat to public order, to which he replied that his "rights are being trampled in the name of the law."
Salah's most recent run-in with the law occurred two weeks ago, after he waved Syrian flags with another person, and according to police also made inflammatory speeches in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz.
The protest was part of a wide public campaign by Muslims against archeological excavations near the Mughrabi Gate in Jerusalem's Old City.