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Pope to Muslim leaders:We all must get along

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 26, 2006

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI brought together diplomats from more than 20 Islamic countries Monday and told them that Christians and Muslims must overcome enmities and join to reject all forms of violence and intolerance.

The gathering at the pope's summer residence was the latest effort by Benedict to quell a furor stirred two weeks ago by controversial remarks about Islam. Expressing his "esteem and profound respect" for Muslim believers, the pope said world peace and the future of mankind depends in large part on the ability of Christians and Muslims to build "bridges of friendship" and engage one another.

Benedict spoke in French for about five minutes, then greeted each participant. Most participants said they welcomed the encounter.

"It was a very positive meeting, and it could be more positive if we can consider this a starting point," said Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, a representative of Italy's Muslim communities. "It was a meeting on dialogue and the pope spoke about dialogue, but it was a monologue. It will be interesting to see how he reacts now and how open he is to dialogue."

Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, said he considered the meeting a big step forward.

Elsewhere ...

England: Gordon Brown, the man expected to succeed Tony Blair as prime minister, strengthened his claim to the job with a self-confident speech that got a standing ovation from delegates at the governing Labor Party's annual conference. Brown set out a centrist vision that suggested he agreed with Blair's view that Labor must stay focused on moderate voters to retain power. But he also sought support from the party's left with declarations of his commitment to core Labor values such as social justice.

CANADA: A long-awaited Air India inquiry opened in Toronto with emotional testimony from families of some of the 329 people killed in a plane bombing 21 years ago - Canada's worst case of mass murder. Mark Freiman, chief counsel of the investigation, said testimony from relatives and rescue personnel involved in the 1985 crash of an Air India passenger jet off Ireland would put a human face on terrorism. The flight was brought down by a bomb believed to have been planted by Sikh extremists campaigning for a homeland in northern India. The dead included 280 Canadian citizens, most of them of Indian origin or descent.

JAPAN: The entire Japanese Cabinet resigned early today ahead of a vote in Parliament expected to elect nationalist Shinzo Abe as the new prime minister, with a promise to create a more assertive nation and give its military a larger international role.

[Last modified September 26, 2006, 00:38:23]