VATICAN CITY, Nov 16: On the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to Rome, Pope John Paul II on Sunday criticized Israel’s building of a West Bank security barrier, saying the Middle East “does not need walls but bridges.”

“The construction of the wall between the Israeli people and the Palestinian people is seen by many as a new obstacle on the road leading to peaceful cohabitation,” the pope said.

It was the first time that the pontiff had criticised Israel’s construction of the 430-kilometre barrier, which has been branded by Palestinians as the “Apartheid Wall.”

The barrier will cut off large expanses of fertile land and scores of villages from the rest of the Palestinian territory.

The criticism was usual coming from a pope who has made a dialogue with Judaism one of the central facets of his reign. He became the first pope in history in 1986 to enter a synagogue and ask forgiveness for the sins committed by Christians against the Jews.

But he has also been a firm defender of Palestinian rights.

There was no indication on Sunday that Sharon, the principal architect of the barrier, who arrives Monday for a three-day visit to Italy, would also call on the pope.

Despite his defence of the Palestinians, the Pope has consistently championed the right of Israel, with which he established diplomatic relations, to live in peace.

“In reality, the Holy Land does not need walls but bridges,” the Pope said during his traditional midday blessing to a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square from the window of his residence.—AFP