Cardinal says Vatican ready to help mediate end to Iraqi standoff

Published: 2004-08-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican said it was ready to help mediate a solution to a standoff between U.S. troops and Shiite militants in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf. "If it is asked of us, the pope will very willingly agree to (support) a mediation," whose "aim is for all sides to come round the table to talk," said the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The Vatican "is always available. The pope would certainly never back away" from helping disputing parties sit down to talks, he told Italian state radio, RAI, Aug. 15. Since Aug. 5, U.S. troops backed by Iraqi government forces in Najaf have been locked in intense fighting with militants supporting Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Much of the fighting has centered on the Shiite Imam Ali Shrine, where many of the militants have been hiding; al-Sadr is also believed to be inside the shrine. The Shiite Muslim cleric called for followers to rise up and fight against what he has called the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

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