Arafat Calls for Papal Appeal for Palestinians

Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat has written to Pope John Paul II asking him to make another public appeal on behalf of Palestinians in Israel’s occupied territories.

Nimer Hammad, PLO representative in Italy, said that Arafat’s letter was given to the Vatican on Tuesday, adding that it will probably be forwarded to northern Italy, where the Pope is at a mountain retreat until Friday.

Hammad called it a “very humanitarian letter.”