BEN-GURION AIRPORT, Israel, May 15 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict renewed his call for a Palestinian state as he left Israel on Friday and he appealed for an end to all violence in the region where he has spent the past week on a tour of the Holy Land. "Allow me to make this appeal to all the people of these lands: No more bloodshed. No more fighting. No more terrorism. No more war. Instead let us break the vicious circle of violence," the pope said at an airport ceremony. Saying Israel must be allowed to exist in peace and security but calling the wall it has built in the Palestinian West Bank "one of the saddest sights for me during my visit", he added: "The Palestinian people have a right to a sovereign independent homeland, to live with dignity and to travel freely. Let the two-state solution become a reality, not remain a dream." Attending the farewell ceremony airport was new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been reluctant to endorse a state for the Palestinians as the final outcome of negotiations. He will meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday to discuss the way ahead for peace talks. (Reporting by Philip Pullella, writing by Alastair Macdonald, editing by Douglas Hamilton)
Demonstrators hold burning Israeli and U.S. flags during in front of the press syndicate in Cairo May 14, 2009. Demonstrators marked the 61st anniversary of the displacement of hundreds of thousands ...
