The Pope calls on Sharon to stop attack on Ramullah

The Vatican announced that Pope John Paul II called on the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to "stop" attacking the headquarters of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Ramullah.

The spokesman for the Vatican Jawakin Navaro Vals expressed the "concern of the Papal nuncio Cardinal Angelo Sudano concerning the attack against the headquarters of the Palestinian President.

He explained he had sent "a message to the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon asking him in the name of the Pope to stop such acts." The spokesman indicated that acts make "vulnerable the already weak hopes to establish peace in this region." The Pope expressed his hope in "quick resumption of the dialogue between the sides concerned in the framework of reciprocated respect and understanding."