Iraqi Envoy pleased with Pontiff's words

(26 Sept.2006) :-Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, the only diplomat who spoke on Monday, Sept. 25 after Pope Benedict XVI ‘s meeting in Castelgandolfo with 22 Ambassadors from Muslim countries and leaders of Islamic Communities in Italy, said he was pleased with the Pontiff’s words. Albert Edward Ismail Yelda said that the Pope’s address, in which, he advocated for the dialogue between Muslims and Christians as vital for the future of peace, should put an end to the controversies that arose in the wake of his Sept. 12 address at the University of Regensburg. "The Holy Father expressed his profound respect for Islam. That is what we hoped for. Now is the time to put behind what happened and to build bridges”, Yelda said, as he left the papal summer residence. And Mohammed Nour Dachan, President of the Union of Muslim Communities and Organizations of Italy, said in a document handed to the Pope that - "The meeting is the sign of a willingness to dialogue that cannot be disregarded."