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Pope discusses Iraq crisis with Spain and Iran
Vatican City, Feb 28: Pope John Paul stepped up his peace offensive, meeting the Spanish Prime Minister and a senior Iranian official as a decision on a US-led war against Iraq neared.
Vatican City, Feb 28: Pope John Paul stepped up his peace offensive, meeting the Spanish Prime Minister and a senior Iranian official as a decision on a US-led war against Iraq neared.
And at a private briefing later yesterday with ambassadors from around the world, the Vatican foreign minister spoke out forcefully against any independent action being taken against Iraq without the backing of the United Nations.
Earlier the 82-year-old pontiff received Spain's Jose Maria Aznar, one of America's staunchest allies on the UN Security Council, for a half-hour tete-a-tete. After Aznar left, Iran's deputy parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother and personal envoy of President Mohammad Khatami, arrived for talks.
''The holy father hopes that all of the parties involved --without exceptions -- adopt just decisions and undertake peaceful and efficient initiatives that comply with justice and are inspired in international law,'' a Vatican statement said. Both parties agreed that a united action via the United Nations was needed to confront the crisis, it added.
The Pope has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to the standoff, saying a war would be a ''defeat for humanity''.
His foreign minister archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran stressed that message when he met ambassadors on Thursday evening. ''The Vatican was concerned that if force is used against Iraq, there will be a grave deterioration of dialogue between Christians and Muslims around the world and the entire Middle East region would be destabilised,'' one envoy present at the briefing quoted Tauran as saying.
The envoy, who did not wish to be named, said Tauran spoke forcefully against independent action being taken outside UN auspices. The Vatican believed progress had been made in arms inspections, and that they should continue with more inspectors.
Aznar, who has supported Washington despite widespread opposition from Spain's largely Roman Catholic electorate, presented the Pope with his case for wanting to rid Iraq of President Saddam Hussein.
After a meeting later with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, another washington ally, aznar insisted that war could still be avoided.
''With more pressure and unity from everyone we can arrive at a peaceful solution to this crisis and disarm Saddam.''
The Italian media quoted White House spokesman Ari Fleischer as saying President George W Bush would not be influenced by the Pontiff's opinion.
But other leaders are seeking his counsel. Over the past month the Pope has received British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Vatican dispatched a special envoy this month to Baghdad to urge Saddam to cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors.
Vatican officials concede that the Pope alone is not going to prevent a war, but say that at least his stance shows the Muslim world it would not be some kind of Christian crusade.
The Pope's message could also influence catholic Mexico and Chile, two of the 15 nations on the Security Council whose votes will be crucial in an expected final UN ballot on Iraq.
Bureau Report
Earlier the 82-year-old pontiff received Spain's Jose Maria Aznar, one of America's staunchest allies on the UN Security Council, for a half-hour tete-a-tete. After Aznar left, Iran's deputy parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother and personal envoy of President Mohammad Khatami, arrived for talks.
''The holy father hopes that all of the parties involved --without exceptions -- adopt just decisions and undertake peaceful and efficient initiatives that comply with justice and are inspired in international law,'' a Vatican statement said. Both parties agreed that a united action via the United Nations was needed to confront the crisis, it added.
The Pope has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to the standoff, saying a war would be a ''defeat for humanity''.
His foreign minister archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran stressed that message when he met ambassadors on Thursday evening. ''The Vatican was concerned that if force is used against Iraq, there will be a grave deterioration of dialogue between Christians and Muslims around the world and the entire Middle East region would be destabilised,'' one envoy present at the briefing quoted Tauran as saying.
The envoy, who did not wish to be named, said Tauran spoke forcefully against independent action being taken outside UN auspices. The Vatican believed progress had been made in arms inspections, and that they should continue with more inspectors.
Aznar, who has supported Washington despite widespread opposition from Spain's largely Roman Catholic electorate, presented the Pope with his case for wanting to rid Iraq of President Saddam Hussein.
After a meeting later with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, another washington ally, aznar insisted that war could still be avoided.
''With more pressure and unity from everyone we can arrive at a peaceful solution to this crisis and disarm Saddam.''
The Italian media quoted White House spokesman Ari Fleischer as saying President George W Bush would not be influenced by the Pontiff's opinion.
But other leaders are seeking his counsel. Over the past month the Pope has received British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Vatican dispatched a special envoy this month to Baghdad to urge Saddam to cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors.
Vatican officials concede that the Pope alone is not going to prevent a war, but say that at least his stance shows the Muslim world it would not be some kind of Christian crusade.
The Pope's message could also influence catholic Mexico and Chile, two of the 15 nations on the Security Council whose votes will be crucial in an expected final UN ballot on Iraq.
Bureau Report