Pope's envoy meets with Aziz, Ramadan

The Pope's special envoy held talks yesterday with the Iraqi vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and with the deputy premier Tareq Aziz.

Following the meeting which lasted for one hour, Cardinal Roger Achighari told journalists that the Iraqi authorities were careful to find out an atmosphere of an exchanged confidence. He commended Iraq's efforts to find a positive atmosphere for openness and showing a clear desire to peace, as stated by the UN security council and Iraq's receiving of the inspectors.

He added that he will be giving to the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein a personal message from the Pope. Cardinal Achighari arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday evening coming from Amman on a board of a UN plane. The Cardinal held yesterday a mass for the sake of peace in Baghdad in the Church of the Kildan's Joseph Church.