NAZARETH, Occupied Palestine -- Israel demolished the foundations of a planned mosque near Nazareth's main Christian shrine on Tuesday, ending a project that had angered the Vatican and raised religious tensions in the city where Christians believe Prophet Jesus (pbuh) grew up. Dozens of Muslim protesters scuffled with police protecting mechanical wreckers carrying out a court demolition order at the site in the shadow of the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation. The basilica is built on the spot where Christian faithful believe the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would bear God's son (may Allah forbid). Israel granted the national Islamic Trust permission in 1999 to build a mosque at a nearby site that houses the tomb of Shehab el-Din, nephew of the Muslim leader Salahudden (Saladin) who ousted the Crusaders from the Holy Land eight centuries ago. The prospect of a mosque rising near the basilica alarmed the minority Christian population of Nazareth, disturbing a delicate religious balance in Israel's leading Arab city, where riots between the two communities erupted in April 1999. The Vatican and U.S. churches voiced concern, leading to an Israeli ministerial review of the project and a cabinet decision in March 2002 to end construction of the mosque on grounds the Islamic Trust failed to obtain proper building permits. Israeli courts upheld the decision. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Mechanical wreckers demolish the foundations of a planned mosque near Nazareth's main Christian shrine July 1, 2003.