Anglican Communion News Service

The Primates Meeting Jerusalem 1997

CONCERNING THE KILLING OF ISRAELI CHILDREN AT JORDAN BORDER

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Jerusalem, wish to express their sympathy to the families of the young school children killed today at the Jordan border.

The Primates were shocked and horrified by the news that reached them of the shooting by a Jordanian soldier of innocent Israeli school girls on a trip to an observation post on the Jordan River island of Naharayim. Special prayers will be offered for those killed and their families and messages of condolence will be sent to government officials. The news came as the Anglican leaders prayed for the people of Dunblane, Scotland, on the first anniversary of the massacre of children there. The Primates made an urgent call for lasting peace and an end to all such useless violence.