DECLARATION ON HOLY SEE-PALESTINIAN BASIC AGREEMENT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 16, 2000 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls stated last evening that the Basic Agreement signed earlier in the day between the Holy See and the Palestinian Liberation Organization "does not concern the peace process as such, but rather regulates the presence and activity of the Catholic Church in the territories run by the Palestinian Authority.

"This agreement only repeats what has been established by the pertinent institutions of the United Nations and the recent agreements between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

"As far as the city of Jerusalem is concerned, the agreement does not enter into questions of territoriality or sovereignty which regard the two interested parties, Israeli and Palestinian.

"The text signed this morning in the Vatican refers to the universal religious and cultural dimension of the most sacred parts of the city, recognized by the international community itself."

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