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VATICAN-POPE-SYRIA-LIBYA-UNREST
Pope urges Libya peace, return of refugees to Syria
VATICAN CITY, April 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Pope Francis on Sunday urged
world leaders to try again to bring peace to Libya and in Syria where
millions of refugees and people displaced by conflict should be helped to
return home.
In his traditional Easter Sunday address to the faithful at the Vatican,
where some 70,000 were gathered in Saint Peter’s square, the pope also
expressed his “sadness” at news of the deadly bomb attacks on churches and
hotels in Sri Lanka.
Francis noted how in Libya violence has flared up again as strongman
Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army attacked Tripoli, seat of the UN-backed
government.
“May conflict and bloodshed cease in Libya, where defenceless people are
once more dying in recent weeks,” Francis said.
“I urge the parties involved to choose dialogue over force and to avoid
reopening wounds left by a decade of conflicts and political instability.”
In Syria, where President Bashar Al-Assad has steadily recovered territory
lost to rebel groups, the pope lamented the fate of “the beloved Syrian
people, victims of an ongoing conflict to which we risk becoming ever more
resigned and even indifferent.”
“Now is instead the time for a renewed commitment for a political solution
able to respond to people’s legitimate hopes for freedom, peace and justice,
confront the humanitarian crisis and favour the secure re-entry of the
homeless, along with all those who have taken refuge in neighbouring
countries, especially Lebanon and Jordan.”
The pope noted how Easter, the holiest Christian festival, “makes us keep
our eyes fixed on the Middle East, torn by continuing divisions and
tensions.”
Turning to South Sudan, Pope Francis urged rival leaders President Salva
Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar — who met recently at the Vatican — to
sink their differences to pursure national reconciliation.
On Saturday, Kiir called on Machar to return home “urgently” to help form a
government of national unity.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1800 hrs