VATICAN CITY, Sept 30: The Vatican blasted the US-led war in Iraq and denounced terrorism in the first ever speech by an official of the Holy See at the United Nations general assembly in New York.

"The position of the Holy See concerning the military action of 2002-2003 is well known. Everyone can see that it did not lead to a safer world either inside or outside Iraq," the Vatican's foreign minister Monsignor Giovanni Lajolo said in his address.

It was the first speech to the assembly by a representative of the Holy See, which holds observer status at the UN. The Vatican was only given the right to speak at the annual assembly in July.

According to a text of the speech made public by the Vatican on Thursday, Lajolo condemned terrorism as "an aberrant phenomenon, utterly unworthy of man". "It seems obvious that terrorism can only be effectively challenged through a concerted multinational approach...and not through the politics of unilateralism," said Lajola.

The official, appointed the Vatican's top foreign official by Pope John Paul II last year, said that while the fight against terrorism meant "neutralizing its active breeding grounds", more important was "long-term action, directed with foresight and patience, at its roots".

He said terrorism had already assumed global dimensions, "today no state can presume to be safe from it". Turning to the Middle East, he said Israeli and Palestinian leaders "have the grave duty to demonstrate their desire for peace" and urged them to follow the road map for peace "with determination and courage".

He reminded delegates that there could be no justice in the Middle East without mutual forgiveness. "This clearly requires greater moral courage than the use of arms."

Reiterating the Holy See's position in defence of the right to life, Lajola said human cloning came under the same broad heading and called on the United Nations "to draw up and implement a clear convention that will result in a comprehensive ban on human cloning." -AFP