CAIRO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher returned home Monday evening after a short visit to Israel where hewas assaulted by Muslim worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.
During the one-day trip, Maher met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on ways to break the deadlock of the Palestinian-Israeli peace track, the state-run television reported.
The top Egyptian diplomat was assaulted by Muslim worshipper at the mosque, Islam's third holiest site, when he visited the site. The Palestinian extremists threw shoes at him, a traditional Muslim insult.
Some witnesses said that Maher was slightly injured and was taken to hospital by Israeli police, while others claimed Maher was not injured in the attack.
Maher arrived in Jerusalem early on Monday for a one-day visit to help restart talks on the stalled US-backed roadmap peace plan. It was the first visit paid by a top Egyptian diplomat to Israel in about three years.
The visit was seen as a significant thaw in ties between Israel and Egypt.
Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has been playing a key mediating role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflicts.
But Cairo withdrew its ambassador to Israel soon after the eruption of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000 in protest at Israel's excess use of force against the Palestinians.
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Bodyguards carry shoes which were thrown on Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher as he is assaulted by Palestinians while praying in Jerusalem's Old City December 22, 2003. Radical Muslim worshippers assaulted Maher in the al-Aqsa Mosque on Monday and he was rushed to hospital, witnesses, police and security guards said. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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