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Posted on 12/13/2001 11:01:03 AM PST by CommiesOut

Vatican says no peace until Israel quits territories

    VATICAN CITY, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Vatican said on 
Thursday peace between Israelis and Palestinians would never be 
possible until the Jewish state withdrew from the occupied 
territories and a Palestinian state was born. 
    The Vatican made its position clear at the end of a day-long 
meeting presided by Pope John Paul and attended by Catholic 
religious leaders from the Middle East. 
    A final statement from the Vatican spokesman said peace 
between the two peoples "can be realised only if rights and 
equality about fundamental questions are respected." 
    It listed these fundamental points as "security for Israel, 
the birth of a state for the Palestinian people, the evacuation 
from occupied territories, an internationally guaranteed special 
statute for the most sacred parts of Jerusalem and a fair 
solution for Palestinian refugees." 
    In his address at the start of the meeting on Thursday 
morning the Pope condemned violence by both Israelis and 
Palestinians, saying people were being crushed by "two different 
extremisms" that were disfiguring the face of the Holy Land. 
 ((Rome newsroom, +39 06 854 0049, fax +39 06 854 0568, 
rome.newsroom@reuters.com)) 
 
13 DEC 2001 19:15:42

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