Pope, in Lebanon, makes plea for religious freedom

BEIRUT -- Pope Benedict XVI told Syrians at a rally for young people yesterday that he admired their courage and that he does not forget those in the Middle East who are suffering.

On a day of appeals for religious freedom in the region, he said it was time for Muslims and Christians to work together against violence. He spoke on the second day of his visit to Lebanon, which has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East. He arrived amid a wave of violent demonstrations over an anti-Islam film across the Muslim world.

Addressing the rally, Benedict said he understood that there were young people present from Syria in the crowd of some 20,000.

"I want to say how much I admire your courage," he said, speaking French. "Tell your families and friends back home that the pope has not forgotten you. Tell those around you that the pope is saddened by your sufferings and your grief."

Lebanon has given refuge to nearly 70,000 of a quarter-million Syrians who have fled their country's increasingly bloody civil war.

The turmoil stemming from the Arab Spring has deeply unsettled the Middle East's Christian population, which fears being caught between rival Muslim groups. Part of the pope's mission in Lebanon is persuading his flock to remain.

Earlier yesterday, he appealed to government officials, foreign diplomats and religious leaders for religious freedom, calling it central to stability in a region bloodied by sectarian strife.

Also yesterday, the new international envoy tasked with ending Syria's civil war summed up his first foray to the nation's capital with a startling and frank admission that he still has no plan for stopping the bloodshed which he warned could threaten world peace.

The bleak outlook offered by veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi after three days of meetings with Syrian officials and the opposition underlines just how fruitless diplomatic efforts have been in ending the conflict.

"I repeat . . . I have no plan," Brahimi told reporters in Damascus after meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, in their first talks since the Algerian diplomat took up the job.