Pope Benedict Renews His Appeal for Mideast Cease - Fire

(AFP/File/Alessia Giuliani)


Pope Benedict XVI repeated his call for a ceasefire in the Middle East as pressure mounted on Britain and the United States to back international calls for a truce.
"I renew with vigor my appeal to all sides in the conflict, so that they immediately cease fighting and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, and so, with the help of the international community, they search for ways to begin negotiations," Benedict said.
"I take the occasion to reaffirm the right of Lebanese to the wholeness and sovereignty of the country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign country."
The pontiff expressed special closeness to the "defenseless civilian populations, unjustly hit in a conflict in which there are only victims."He said the victims included those in Israel's Galilee region "forced to live in (bomb) shelters" and the "great multitudes of Lebanese, who, yet again, see their country destroyed and who have had to abandon everything and flee elsewhere."
Benedict said he was praying that "the aspirations for peace by overwhelming majority of people can be realized as soon as possible" thanks to actions by their leaders.
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