ISRAELIAN POLICE CORDON UP NAZARETH STREETS BEFORE MASS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II, 2000-03-25 (photo)

The Israelian police, seen here reflected in a policeman sunglasses, cordoned up March 25 the streets before a mass held by Pope John Paul II at Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation, where tradition says an angel told the Virgin Mary she would bear the son of God. For the past two years, Moslems in the town of 60,000 have staked a claim to a public square just meters from the basilica, which encloses the rough stone cave that Christians believe was the home of Mary. Israel's decision last year to allow a mosque to be built on the plaza angered the Vatican and stoked tensions between the Moslem majority and Christians in Israel's largest Arab city. RS/GB