VATICAN SUPPORTS SELF-DEFENSE, URGES NON-VIOLENT SOLUTION

VATICAN CITY, SEP 25, 2001 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro Valls, travelling with Pope John Paul II in Kazakhstan and Armenia, yesterday granted an interview to Reuters news agency which had asked him for the Holy See's position on the morality of an eventual armed response by the United States in self-defense for the September 11 terrorist attacks on its soil.

He said that a self-defense move by the United States would be understandable but that the Holy See would prefer a non-violent solution to the crisis which has developed since September 11. The Vatican would not accept for innocent people to be hurt, nor would it accept a war on Islam as a religion.

Navarro-Valls said "It is certain that if someone has done great harm to society and there is a danger that he remains free, he may be able to do it again, and you have the right to apply self-defense for the society which you lead, even though the means you choose may be aggressive."

He added that "sometimes self-defense implies an action which may lead to the death of a person. ... Either people who have carried out a horrendous crime are put in a position there they can do no further harm, by being handed over and put into custody, or the principle of self-defense applies with all its consequences."

PV-ARMENIA;SELF DEFENSE; TERRORISM;...;...;VIS;20010925;Word: 250;