Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA) invited Pope Benedict to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem after meeting with Italian officials on Friday. He asked them to host an international peace conference, according to its Italian envoy, Nemer Hammad.
"You will be very welcome in Jerusalem and the holy places," Abbas told the Pope during a 20-minute private audience. Reuters News Agency reported, "By specifically mentioning Jerusalem, which is under full Israeli control, Abbas was making a clear political statement."
The PA radio network, Palestine National News, reported, "His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI accepted a Bethlehem passport from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today [and] becomes the first new citizen of Bethlehem following the launch of 'Open Bethlehem', an international campaign to save the city." However, Abbas, denied that the document include a passport.
Abbas, as part of a public relations effort to support its demand that Jerusalem be the capital of a new Arab state, told the Pope, "If we can't hold democratic elections in Jerusalem, it will be difficult to do it in the other zones. At that point Israel will be responsible for the block of the democratic process in Palestine.
"The Oslo accords establish the right of Palestinians to take part in elections. The Palestinians in Jerusalem have to have the freedom to vote inside Jerusalem."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that the PA and Israel have signed previous agreements on voting and hoped "that the Palestinians will not try to unilaterally change them because this would not be a positive move."
Abbas' visit to Italy and his audience with the Pope were part of an ongoing campaign to win worldwide support for pressuring Israel to return to the 1949 Armistice Lines and to hand over eastern Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria to the PA for a new Arab state.
He visited several Arab nations early last summer to win personal support from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and other nations as he shored up his shaky rule. He then visited South American countries and last week attended the European Union (EU) conference in Barcelona.
The EU, ignoring the 1967 Knesset law that declared newly reunited Jerusalem to be part of Israel, has prepared a report claiming that the security fence is a "de-facto annexation" of Jerusalem.
The PA strategy has been based on its interpretation of the Bush administration's roadmap plan. It states that the objective is "a negotiated resolution on the status of Jerusalem that takes into account the political and religious concerns of both sides and protects the religious interests of Jews, Christians and Moslems worldwide." The document also refers to the Israeli "occupation that began in 1967" and calls for an Arab-Israeli agreement based on United Nations resolutions.
"You will be very welcome in Jerusalem and the holy places," Abbas told the Pope during a 20-minute private audience. Reuters News Agency reported, "By specifically mentioning Jerusalem, which is under full Israeli control, Abbas was making a clear political statement."
The PA radio network, Palestine National News, reported, "His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI accepted a Bethlehem passport from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today [and] becomes the first new citizen of Bethlehem following the launch of 'Open Bethlehem', an international campaign to save the city." However, Abbas, denied that the document include a passport.
Abbas, as part of a public relations effort to support its demand that Jerusalem be the capital of a new Arab state, told the Pope, "If we can't hold democratic elections in Jerusalem, it will be difficult to do it in the other zones. At that point Israel will be responsible for the block of the democratic process in Palestine.
"The Oslo accords establish the right of Palestinians to take part in elections. The Palestinians in Jerusalem have to have the freedom to vote inside Jerusalem."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that the PA and Israel have signed previous agreements on voting and hoped "that the Palestinians will not try to unilaterally change them because this would not be a positive move."
Abbas' visit to Italy and his audience with the Pope were part of an ongoing campaign to win worldwide support for pressuring Israel to return to the 1949 Armistice Lines and to hand over eastern Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria to the PA for a new Arab state.
He visited several Arab nations early last summer to win personal support from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and other nations as he shored up his shaky rule. He then visited South American countries and last week attended the European Union (EU) conference in Barcelona.
The EU, ignoring the 1967 Knesset law that declared newly reunited Jerusalem to be part of Israel, has prepared a report claiming that the security fence is a "de-facto annexation" of Jerusalem.
The PA strategy has been based on its interpretation of the Bush administration's roadmap plan. It states that the objective is "a negotiated resolution on the status of Jerusalem that takes into account the political and religious concerns of both sides and protects the religious interests of Jews, Christians and Moslems worldwide." The document also refers to the Israeli "occupation that began in 1967" and calls for an Arab-Israeli agreement based on United Nations resolutions.