RAMALLAH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A previously unknown
group claimed responsibility on Saturday for attacking two churches Friday night
in West Bank city of Nablus, a Palestinian radio reported.
In a telephone interview with a local radio station
in Nablus, a group calling itself "Lions of Monotheism" announced responsibility
for the attacks at churches in the region on Friday.
Unidentified attackers threw four Molotov cocktails
at two churches as part of widespread anger sparked by Pope Benedict XVI who
linked Islam with religious violence in a speech made earlier this week.
Father George Awad, the spiritual leader of Roman
Catholics in Nablus, said that unknown men threw several fire-bombs at two
churches, one Protestant and the other Roman Catholic Timorese.
"The Molotov bombs hit the churches, causing material
damages without casualties," Awad said.
Father Awad strongly condemned both the Pope's
remarks about Islam and the church arsonists, saying "the goal of these actions
is to create a rift among the peoples who have lived for hundreds of years with
love and tolerance."
He called for unity between Palestinian Muslims and
Christians.
On Friday night, thousands of Palestinians took to
the streets in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to protest the Pope's remarks
and demand an official apology.
In a speech at Regensburg University in Germany on
Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the
Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.
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