Church in the World

Hopes rise for Holy Land peace

Middle East

As Condoleezza Rice, the new American Secretary of State, completed an eight-nation tour of Europe and the Middle East this week, she said Israelis and Palestinians had the "best chance for peace" in years, following a ceasefire agreement that could end the four-year intifada.

At a summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, Mahmoud Abbas, the recently elected Palestinian leader, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, declared their people would stop all military and violent attacks against each other, pledging to break a four-year cycle of bloodshed and bring peace talks back on track. In one sign that the talks went well, Egypt and Jordan announced they would return their ambassadors to Israel after a four-year absence. However, the Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, refused to recognise the cease-fire.

During a meeting with Mr Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Dr Rice pledged $40 m. (?21 m.) towards Palestinian redevelopment projects. She also announced the appointment of a new American security envoy to the region, Lt Gen William Ward, who would supervise reform of Palestinian security forces and monitor compliance with "road map" obligations.

Dr Rice had been scheduled to be received by Pope John Paul on 8 February, but instead had a 45-minute closed-door meeting with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. A brief Vatican communiqu? said talks focused on the Holy Land, the Middle East, and religious freedom in several parts of the world.

In an exchange of gifts at the end of the meeting, the cardinal presented Dr Rice with a medal that contained a written reference to Europe's Christian roots. Speaking in English, the Italian cardinal said "There's no need to underscore the Christian roots of America." The Vatican had lobbied hard for an explicit mention of Christianity in the new European Constitution without success.

Dr Rice's visit sets the stage for a trip to Europe later this month by the American president, George W. Bush. Although she was part of the presidential entourage during Mr Bush's official visit to the Vatican last June, Dr Rice - who was national security adviser at the time - did not attend the delegation's papal audience. A spokesman said she had stayed behind at the American Embassy to work, but many saw her absence as a snub to the Pope for his opposition to the American-led invasion of Iraq. In an interview in 2003 Dr Rice told an Italian magazine she could not understand how the Pope could be opposed to preventive war.
Michael Hirst