VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II met privately with PLO chief Yasser Arafat Wednesday and told him Palestinians have a right to a 'homeland' but he stopped short of saying that territory should be a nation or state.
The Palestine Liberation Organization chairman, wearing a combat-style olive drab jacket and traditional Arab headdress, left his customary sidearm behind for his 25-minute audience with the pope.
Describing the private session, the Vatican said John Paul told the Arafat he wanted to see a Middle East peace solution that 'leads t the recognition of the rights of all peoples, and in particular those ofthe Palestinian people to their own homeland and Israel to its security.'
The Vatican statement, however, used the Italian word 'patria' for homeland instead of more specific Italian words denoting state or nation. Such distinctions have been debated for years by Middle Eastern diplomats.
Less than an hour after meeting Arafat, the pope issued a ringing plea for a just Middle East peace, calling on both Arabs and Jewsto stop the bloodshed.
The pope made the appeal -- one of his most comprehensive statements of the Vatican position on the Middle East -- before about 50,000 people attending his weekly general audience.
'The Holy See (the Vatican) is convinced that true peace cannot exist without justice and that there will not be justice if the rights of all the interested peoples are not recognized in a stable, adequate and equal way,' John Paul said.
'Among those rights, the most important and not to be ignored, is that of the existence and security in one's own territory, with the safeguarding of the identity of all,' the pope said.
John Paul called the dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians over territorial rights 'a dilemma.'
'The Pope, the Catholic Church, looks with sympathy and consideration at both of these people, heirs and custodians of different religious, historical and cultural traditions, but both rich with respect to values.'
The pope's meeting with Arafat prompted Israeli charges that the head of the Roman Catholic church had received the leader of 'an organization of murderers which stands at the center of international terrorism.'
The Vatican statement, however, said the pope told Arafat that peace in the Middle East must be sought without 'the recourse to arms and violence of any type, and above all terrorism and revenge,' apparently referring especially to PLO tactics but to Israeli army action as well.
A bomb went off around the corner from the main Rome synagogue late Wednesday, causing panic among Jewish residents gathered there to protest Arafat's visit.
Police said one person was injured when the bomb went off in front of a state statistics building. They believed it was not related to the demonstrations outside the synagogue around the corner.
PLO spokesman Mahmoud Labadi called Arafat's meeting with the pope 'especially warm,' and said his talks with Italian President Sandro Pertini earlier in the day were a 'complete success.'
Arafat had lunch with Pertini and spoke to the International Inter-Parliamentary Union, a gathering of delegates from 98 nations that was boycotted by the Israeli delegation.
In his speech, the PLO chief denounced Israel and the United States.
'The Israelis wanted to liquidate our people,' he said. 'The Israelis had the complete, unlimited support of the Americans - military, diplomatically and politically.'
