Post by bot on Jun 5, 2004 20:34:22 GMT -5
ROME: Bush rebuked by Pope over Iraq during visit
AFP
www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/World/20040606080003/Article/indexb_html
Pope John Paul II told US President George W. Bush yesterday that the situation in Iraq must be "normalised as quickly as possible" as anti-Bush protests on the first day of his European visit fizzled out under blanket policing in Rome.
As expected, Iraq dominated the agenda in the first meeting between the war's chief protagonist and its sternest critic since the conflict began.
But Bush also received an unexpected campaign boost from the leader of the world's more than one billion Catholics when John Paul II praised his defence of "moral values". However, the pope told Bush his three-day visit to Europe, to mark the 60th anniversary of Rome's liberation and D-Day commemorations in France, comes at a time of "great concern" because of serious unrest in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq.
And he called pointedly for a "speedy return of Iraq's sovereignty". Bush, one of whose aides had earlier said would emphasise "things that we do agree about" in the meeting, presented the pope with his nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"He has given courage to others to be not afraid in overcoming injustice and oppression. His principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to overcome communism and tyranny," said the President.
On the streets, things were not quite so cordial but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's concerns that anti-war demos could turn violent proved largely unfounded.
Scuffles broke out briefly between riot police and a few dozen stone-throwing youths at the ancient Circus Maximus, but the anti-war demonstration passed off largely peacefully with only a few isolated incidents reported as evening fell.
Bush is in Rome at the start of a three-day visit to Europe as part of D-Day celebrations and to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Rome by Allied forces. — AFP
AFP
www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/World/20040606080003/Article/indexb_html
Pope John Paul II told US President George W. Bush yesterday that the situation in Iraq must be "normalised as quickly as possible" as anti-Bush protests on the first day of his European visit fizzled out under blanket policing in Rome.
As expected, Iraq dominated the agenda in the first meeting between the war's chief protagonist and its sternest critic since the conflict began.
But Bush also received an unexpected campaign boost from the leader of the world's more than one billion Catholics when John Paul II praised his defence of "moral values". However, the pope told Bush his three-day visit to Europe, to mark the 60th anniversary of Rome's liberation and D-Day commemorations in France, comes at a time of "great concern" because of serious unrest in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq.
And he called pointedly for a "speedy return of Iraq's sovereignty". Bush, one of whose aides had earlier said would emphasise "things that we do agree about" in the meeting, presented the pope with his nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"He has given courage to others to be not afraid in overcoming injustice and oppression. His principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to overcome communism and tyranny," said the President.
On the streets, things were not quite so cordial but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's concerns that anti-war demos could turn violent proved largely unfounded.
Scuffles broke out briefly between riot police and a few dozen stone-throwing youths at the ancient Circus Maximus, but the anti-war demonstration passed off largely peacefully with only a few isolated incidents reported as evening fell.
Bush is in Rome at the start of a three-day visit to Europe as part of D-Day celebrations and to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Rome by Allied forces. — AFP