YOUNG SCHOOL BOY CARRIES SIGN AT WAILING WALL CALLING TO SUPPORT ARIEH DERI, 1999-03-14 (photo)

A religious Jewish schoolboy carries a placard which translates from hebrew, "Young Women of Israel In Support of The Deri Family" duirng the end of a mass prayer at the Wailing Wall (behind) where prayers were recited early March 14, calling on Divine intervention to assure the acquittal of Shas party leader Arieh Deri. Jerusalem's district court is expected to rule this coming Wednesday on the bribery and fraud case in which Deri is charged with channeling money to groups that acted as fronts for the Shas party as well as pocketing some money himself while he held the post of Interior Minister. About 500 school children were given the day off from school and brought in buses to Judiasm's holiest site in order to take part in the mass prayer. Israeli police quickly confiscated all the political placards. JWH/AA