Katsav said Israeli troops will be out of Bethlehem before Christmas

VATICAN CITY, December 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pope John Paul II on Thursday, December 12, appealed for Christians to be allowed free access this Christmas to Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Christ, in talks with visiting Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

The pontiff also called for closer cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as the only way to end the conflict in the Middle East during their discussion, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Katsav’s visit was the first by a president of Israel to the Vatican, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

He later held talks with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and with its foreign minister, Monsignor Jean-Louis Tauran.

“They had a thorough conversation on the dramatic situation in the Holy Land, on which each party explained its point of view,” said Navarro-Valls.

“The Holy See’s position, which supports the existence of and collaboration between the two states, Israel and Palestine, was reiterated with the necessity that a rapid conclusion is reached to the current conflict,” he added.

Katsav, who previously visited the Vatican in January 1998 when he was Israel’s tourism minister.

He claimed Israel intended to withdraw its troops from Bethlehem before Christmas, Vatican and Israeli officials said.

The president’s pledge was conditional on there being “no warnings of terror operations”, according to a Vatican statement.

“The president promised that if there will not be warnings of terror operations, the Israeli Forces will re-deploy outside Bethlehem and in any event the IDF will do everything possible to enable pilgrims to celebrate the festivities as appropriate,” it said.

An Israeli official later told AFP that Katsav was referring to a pre-Christmas pullout from Bethlehem, which annually becomes the center of Christian festive ceremonies on December 24, Christmas Eve.

But he said Israel considered that the conditions for a withdrawal did not exist at present.

Israeli troops backed by tanks have made repeated incursions into the Palestinian-controlled West Bank town this year.

Bethlehem has been declared a closed military area by Israel since November 23, when troops and tanks again stormed the city a day after a bus attack in nearby occupied Jerusalem that killed 10 people.

Relations have been particularly strained between Israel and the Vatican ever since Israeli occupation forces imposed a water-tight siege on the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square last April, claiming that Palestinian fighters were taking refuge there.

Last year’s Christmas celebrations were cancelled in Bethlehem because of Israel’s military closure of the holy town.