Vatican official criticizes Israeli threat against Arafat

Published: 2004-04-26

VENICE, Italy (CNS) -- In the face of new annexation plans by Israel and its threat against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a top Vatican official asked: "Where is the legality in Israel today?" Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, made the comments in Venice April 24, the day after Israel announced it may consider Arafat a legitimate target for assassination. "In what legal code of the world would such an action be possible?" Cardinal Sodano said in response to reporters' questions about the Israeli threat. He said that even in war, human society has established legal codes of conduct that must be respected. That's an area where the world must move forward, not backward, he said.

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