March 5, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 1, 1424

VATICAN CITY, March 4: Pope John Paul II stepped up his crusade against a looming war in Iraq on Tuesday, urging the world’s Christians to stage a fast for peace on the same day as his envoy is to meet US President George W. Bush.

The pope said the day of fasting on Wednesday would remind people of the long years of suffering endured by Iraqi citizens as a result of the international embargo against the country.

The fast will coincide with a meeting on Wednesday between Bush and the pope’s special envoy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, who the pope has entrusted with a special plea to restrain the US leader from waging war against Iraq.

The fast is the latest in a series of efforts to avert a war by the pope.

The pontiff said the day of fasting Wednesday should “provide greater understanding of the difficulties and sufferings or our brothers confronted by hunger, misery and war.”

The appeal has also been passed on by World Council of Churches in Geneva and the Synod of the Church of England.

An opinion poll carried out on an Italian television channel also found that 55.7 per cent of viewers said they were willing to follow the appeal to fast.—AFP