LAHORE, March 7: The World Council of Churches has strongly rejected the use of military option against Iraq which, it believes, is not a threat to the world peace.

This was stated by council general secretary Dr Konard Raiser while speaking at a meeting of the National Council of Churches of Pakistan attended by church leaders from all over the country here on Friday.

Dr Raiser said while the world council was against any war in the Middle East, “it also strongly upholds its stand that Iraq must comply with the UN Security Council resolution No 1,441 and destroy all weapons of mass destruction in its possession.”

He said the council was of the view that whether there was compliance or not, there should not be any war as non compliance could not be the sufficient reason for any power to go to war against Iraq.

“Starting a war will be the violation of the UN Charter,” he warned. The war, in violation of international laws, would be an immoral and unwise action which should be avoided for the sake of world peace. Council’s central committee had on many occasions raised its voice against the use of force against Iraq and asked the church councils all over the world to make their best efforts in maintaining the world peace by opposing the war.

Dr Raiser said the council representatives had called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the representatives of the permanent and temporary members of the Security Council to ask them that they should try to avoid the war in all circumstances. The council had also sent its representatives to the Security Council member countries to request their governments to issue instructions to their representatives not to vote for war. In this connection they held meetings with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Efforts had been made to convince US President Bush but had not so far listened to the church voice. All the churches in America were against the war, he claimed.

Criticizing the US president’s concept of religion, the Christian leader lamented that he (Bush) and his allies in the West were distorting the perception of Christianity and taking the side of the Christian fundamentalists. Fundamentalism in Christianity as well as Islam was a dangerous thing as it distorted their ideals.

He said he was sure about Christianity and believed that fundamentalism was also a distortion of the ideals of Muslim society. He emphasized the need for resolving the differences in both the Christian and Muslim societies by holding a dialogue between their religious leaders for fostering close relations and maintaining international peace.

Dr Raiser advised the National Council of Churches of Pakistan to forge unity in their ranks and work for the protection of the rights of Christians through dialogue and peaceful means.

In his welcome address, Bishop of Lahore Dr Alexander John Malik said Pakistan appeared on the world map in 1947, but religious forces had been gaining ground steadily. First they got the Objectives Resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly to help the people to lead their life in accordance with the principles of Islam. The minority members had protested by staging a walk out. The resolution was kept as a preamble of the Constitution until 1985 when it was made its part.