Israel bars al-Aqsa imam from travel for 1 month

JERUSALEM

Israeli authorities on Tuesday have issued an order barring Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem, from travel for one month.

According to Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, also the al-Aqsa imam, Israeli forces stormed his house in the Al-Sawwanah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, arrested him and took him to the police station for questions.

"The occupation authorities handed me a travel-ban order for one month on allegations that I pose a real threat to the security of Israel,” he told Anadolu Agency.

"The decision was signed by Israel’s [public security] minister Gilad Erdan and entered to force from May 1 to June 1,” he said.

“This is an illegal and unjustified decision that has no evidence of condemnation,” Sabri said.

An Israeli intelligence statement justified the ban saying Sabri uses his travels to participate in conferences that harm the security of the state.