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				Vatican And PLO Demand Jerusalem Guarantees

By Philip Pullella, Feb. 15, 20000

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican and the PLO have signed a basic agreement on their relations and cautioned Israel that any unilateral decisions affecting Jerusalem would be "morally and legally unacceptable".

The wide-ranging agreement was signed ahead of a visit by Pope John Paul next month to Holy Land sites controlled by Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials recently expressed concern about new housing in and around the eastern half of Jerusalem, the Holy City captured by the Israelis in the 1967 Middle East War.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat discussed the Middle East at a private audience with the Pontiff while their delegations signed the agreement, made up of a preamble and 12 articles.

The "Basic Agreement Between the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organisation" deals with matters such as freedom of religion, human rights, freedom of church institutions and their legal, economic and fiscal status in Palestinian-ruled areas.

It was the most significant development in PLO-Vatican relations since official ties were established in 1994.

While the agreement's 12 articles dealt with day-to-day affairs in the religious minefield of the Middle East, its preamble packed a potent political punch. Nearly a third of the 37- line preamble was dedicated to Jerusalem.

The agreement said "an equitable solution for the issue of Jerusalem, based on international resolutions, is fundamental for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East".

More significantly, it added that "unilateral decisions and actions altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem are morally and legally unacceptable".

It called for "a special statute for Jerusalem, internationally agreed" to safeguard "the proper identity and sacred character of the city and its universally significant religious and cultural heritage".

ISRAEL HAS RESISTED "INTERNATIONAL" JERUSALEM

Israel has always resisted the concept of any form of international mandate over Jerusalem, which the Jewish state considers its united and eternal capital.

The international community has not recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Most countries keep embassies in Tel Aviv.

Palestinians, who view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, charge that Israel has long violated peace deals by building new housing in and around the eastern half, in effect claiming areas under construction.

Speaking in Morocco on Monday, Arafat had appealed to Moslem states for funds to save East Jerusalem from what he called "cancerous Judaisation" by Israel.

The agreement said the international statute for Jerusalem, should safeguard freedom of religion and conscience for all, freedom of access to the holy places and defend the city's universally significant religious and cultural heritage.

Israel has always maintained that no international statute is needed because it guarantees the city's special nature as sacred to the three great monotheistic religions.

Aharon Lopez, Israel's envoy to the Vatican, told Reuters he was "dismayed" by the preamble because it dealt with issues on the agenda of negotiations between Israel and Palestinians for a permanent solution to their conflict.