Pope blasts Israeli fence

Published February 13, 2004

VATICAN CITY, Feb 12: Pope John Paul received Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei on Thursday and repeated his condemnation of the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.

The barrier cuts deep into West Bank territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war. "No one must yield to the temptation of discouragement, let alone to hatred or retaliation. It is reconciliation that the Holy Land needs: forgiveness not revenge, bridges not walls," said the pope in a brief address to Mr Qorei. -Reuters

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