Vatican City (AsiaNews) a leader who loved his people and led it towards independence. This is how Joaquín Navarro-Valls, Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, describes Yasser Arafat in a statement in which he called on God to bring peace to the Holy Land "with two independent and sovereign states, fully reconciled with one another".
"The Holy See," Navarro said, "joins the Palestinian people in its hour sorrow for the death of President Yasser Arafat. He was a charismatic leader who led his people and sought to guide it towards national independence.
May God in his Mercy welcome the soul of the great leader and grant peace to the Holy Land with two independent and sovereign states, fully reconciled with one another".