VATICAN CITY, AUG. 21, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Tuesday's suicide attacks in Baghdad and Jerusalem are a reminder that Mideast peace will only be achieved as a «work of justice,» says the Vatican's semiofficial newspaper.
This opinion is expressed in a brief editorial published on Page 1 of today's Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano.
«Will violence end in Iraq and the Middle East? Will it be possible for these peoples to imagine an existence free from fear?» the article asks. «Questions that, following the two vile terrorist attacks perpetrated in Baghdad and Jerusalem - a city whose very name evokes peace, as the Pope reminded today - seem to be further away than ever from a possible answer.»
«In Iraq, in Israel, in the Palestinian Territories, peace seems further away today,» the article says. «A murderous will has tragically manifested the precariousness of the Iraqi situation and the fragility of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation process.»
It adds: «Once again, the highest price has been paid by the innocent. Like all peoples in the area, they have to endure political options characterized, until now, by the denial of fundamental human rights and abuse. Genuine peace, however, is the work of justice.»
ZENIT Daily dispatch - The World Seen from Rome
21. august 2003