Palestine thanks President for donation
by P. Krishnaswamy
Palestine’s Ambassador in Colombo Zuhair Mhzaid called upon the
External Affairs Ministry on Wednesday to express the gratitude of the
people for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s US $ 1 million donation to the
war-affected people of the Gaza strip, Acting Minister Neomal Perera
told the Sunday Observer.
The Ambassador expressed delight that a long-time truce has been
reached between Palestine and Israel ending the gruesome deaths,
destruction and trauma of the people and they were optimistic that there
will be no more clashes between the two countries, he said.
Commenting on Pope Francis’ scheduled visit he said that the visit of
His Holiness in early January next year has been confirmed but his
itinerary has not been intimated officially, he said.
The canonisation of Blessed Joseph Vass is due to take place during
the Pope’s visit, he said. It would be a significant event for the
entire region as it is most unlikely that the present generation will
witness such an event in the foreseeable future, he said.
He said that the Pope’s itinerary will include a visit to the Madhu
Church where millions had received the blessings of Our Lady of Madhu
and that the Pope will see for himself the massive damage inflicted by
LTTE terrorists on the church and its environs and the Government’s
rehabilitation and renovation work.
When President Rajapaksa met the Pope in Rome prior to 2009 he had
expressed concern over the church and its environs, the Acting Minister
said. |