MONDAY, APRIL 04, 2005
Taliban militia sing praise
AFP
Afghanistan's ousted Taliban militia on Sunday acknowledged the Pope's peace-making efforts, but insisted other Roman Catholics were the 'enemies of Islam'. The hardline Islamists, responding to Pope John Paul II's death on Saturday, called for his successor to help stop what they called the 'torture' of Muslims worldwide.
"The Pope's moderation and his voice for peace is noticeable, but the other followers of the Roman Catholic religion are enemies of Islam," Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi told the Pakistan-based private Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) from an undisclosed location. "Christians should take the right path and stop torturing others and fill the void of Pope with a person who could show them the path of deliverance."
Cuban President Fidel Castro offered his condolences for Pope John Paul II's death, saying the anti-Communist pontiff has left humanity with the 'touching memory' of his tireless work toward peace and justice.
"Before the sad news of his Holyness Pope John Paul II's death, I express the deepest condolences of the Cuban people and government," Castro wrote in a letter to Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo.
"Humanity will keep a touching memory of the tireless work of his Holiness Pope John Paul II in favour of peace, justice and solidarity between all peoples," the Cuban leader wrote to Martinez
Somalo, the temporary leader of the Church until a new pope is selected.
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