VATICAN CITY, March 3: Pope John Paul II intends to make a personal address to the United Nations Security Council if an appeal this week to US President George W. Bush fails to deter him from going to war with Iraq, a Vatican diplomatic source told AFP on Monday.

The pope sent one of his most experienced diplomats to Washington on Monday to try to persuade Mr Bush to allow more time for the United Nations to solve its standoff with Baghdad peacefully.

Cardinal Pio Laghi, an 80-year-old former Vatican ambassador to the United States and a personal friend of the Bush family, left Rome on Monday for a meeting at the White House, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

Mr Laghi’s visit is the latest element of a diplomatic peace offensive by the pope, who has emerged a key moral voice against war with Iraq.—AFP