By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The leader of Hamas on Sunday condemned excavations by Israeli archaeologists near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque and warned they were "playing with fire". "I have a stern warning for the enemy," Khaled Meshaal said at a news conference in the Syrian capital. "Sharon's desecration of the Aqsa sparked the 2000 uprising. The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and military wings," he added. A Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000 after a visit, condemned in the Arab world, by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war in a move not recognised internationally. "Israel knows what its violation of the holy Aqsa will bring. It is playing with fire," Meshaal said. The Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques sit above the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in an area referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sherif. The Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine and has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the past. In the 1980s, Israel uncovered a plot by a group of Jews to blow up Aqsa in the hope that a new Jewish temple could be built at the site. Muslim scholars say the excavations violate Aqsa's sanctity. Israeli officials say the work would not harm the structure of the mosque, which dates from the seventh century. FACTIONAL FIGHTING "We are facing a dangerous action. Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites are dear to all Palestinians. Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian internal conflict to commit its crimes," Meshaal said. Fighting between Hamas, which is backed by Syria and Iran, and the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has killed around 80 people since December. Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria along with several members of the Hamas leadership, confirmed he was heading to Saudi Arabia to meet Abbas on Tuesday to try to end the strife. "The situation does not afford failure. I say to Abu Mazen (Abbas): we have no option but to succeed," Meshaal said. "The main complication we face is the Zionist and American interference in the internal Palestinian situation, as well as our fundamental problem, which is the occupation." Israeli officials say Abbas's forces have been receiving arms from Egypt and Jordan with the Jewish state's approval. The United States announced last month that it is planning to spend more than $80 million on forces loyal to Abbas.
