As 10,000 anti-war protesters marched through the Italian city of Naples towards a Nato base in Bagnoli, Pope John Paul II made his first public comment on the conflict.

"When war, like the one now in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is even more urgent for us to proclaim, with a firm and decisive voice, that only peace is the way of building a more just and caring society," he said.

BBC via Warblogs:cc