Pope in historical first meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister

Sources from Vatican revealed that Pope John Paul II will meet with Prime Minister Ayad Allawi at the Vatican on Thursday 4th November 2004. The very first encounter between the two figures will take place at around 11:00am (10:00am GMT).

In the midst of the instability in Iraq, this meeting could prove to be very influential. The Pope is a strong opponent of the US-led war against Iraq. Before the war began last year, he launched a campaign to try to avoid the war. He has also met some world leaders including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as Iraq’s deputy prime minister under Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz.

Recently, as the violence, which has been targeted at Christians, escalates the Assyrian Christians are now calling for the establishment of a special administrative region where they can enjoy autonomy from the Islamic Iraqi government. The proposal has been widely backed by the international community, and the Pope also has showed his support to the reconstruction of the country.

Last Wednesday, the Pope condemned hostage-taking and the “blind barbarity of terrorism” striking innocent people in Iraq and asked all Christian “to rebuild the institutional structures of their county”, together with the other religious communities.

On 29th October, a delegation of Iraqi Christian Churches held a meeting in Najaf. The representatives talked about security and other aspects for the rebuilding of the country such as the preparation to the elections planned in January 2005.