Pope condemns killing of Jewish settlers at Hebron

Pope John Paul II yesterday condemned the "cowardly" killing of twelve Jewish settlers at Hebron. After praying the Angelus with pilgrims in St Peter's Square, he said, in several languages: "I wish to express my deeply felt participation in the pain of the relatives of those who, last Friday, were the victims of a vile attack in Hebron, in the Holy Land, as people had just finished praying several steps away from the tomb of the one whom we recognize as our common father in the faith, the Patriarch Abraham. While I invoke eternal repose for the souls of those who died, I ask the Lord to instil in everyone the courage necessary to rediscover the path of justice and peace." According to police and medical sources, an unknown number of Palestinians fired from the Abu Sneineh neighbourhood at a group of faithful walking along 'Worshippers' Lane,' from the Tomb of the Patriarchs to their settlement of Kiryat Arba.