IF EGYPT AND ISRAEL WILL KEEP READING RUMOR MILL NEWS, MAYBE WE CAN AVERT ARMAGEDDON IN 1999 AS WE DID IN 1984 AND 1986---

ISRAEL IS TAKING THE ADVICE RUMOR MILL NEWS GAVE THEM BACK IN AUGUST OF THIS YEAR!

BUT THIS ISNT ENOUGH! EVEN MORE THOROUGH MEASURES NEED AND WILL BE TAKEN BEFORE THE YEAR IS OUT!

Monday, November 22 2:46 AM SGT

Israel to install cameras to keep guard on Jerusalem holy sites

JERUSALEM, Nov 21 (AFP) -

Israel is to install a system of security cameras in Jerusalem's Old City to protect holy sites during the millennium, Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben Ami said Sunday.

Security measures will focus on the Temple Mount, regarded as the most likely target for possible acts of violence or mass suicides by fundamentalist Christian groups to hasten the return of the messiah.

"The Temple Mount is one of the most sensitive areas that as far as I'm concerned needs to be protected even at the expense of other more traditional assignments of the Israeli police," Ben Ami said.

The mosque compound holding Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock is the third holiest site in Islam and was built upon the site of the Jewish Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

Jews call the raised platform holding the mosques the Temple Mount.

"We are starting a highly sophisticated control centre in the Old City that will monitor the movement of police forces and security systems throughout the city," Ben Ami said.

The system, which will involve television cameras monitoring the labyrinth of alleys in the Old City, is expected to be in place in a few weeks, along with a beefed-up police force.

"We increased the number of police in Jerusalem quite substantially over the last year, the government allowed us to deploy more forces and gave us more budgets to be ready for the challenge of the millennium."

Israel has expelled several dozen suspected members of radical Christian sects in recent weeks that the authorities feared could pose a risk in the run-up to the year 2000.

But Ben Ami said that Israel should take care not to over-dramatise the threats of such "esoteric groups."

"We should not convey to international opinion the message that Israel is in the business of expelling people," he said.

The minister also said he would be meeting church leaders next week in a bid to reach an agreement on plans for an emergency exit at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre to cope with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected next year.

He said if the talks with the three main churches that control the site fail to resolve a dispute over the location of the exit, Israel would consider other ways of controlling access.

The church, built on the site where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried, is currently visited by some 600,000 pilgrims annually, but officials estimate that 1.5 million people will visit next year.