Iraqi parliament, rights groups appeal to Pope for support

The Iraqi parliament and social and human rights organizations have appealed to Pope John Paul II to exert further efforts to end the suffering of the Iraqi people, the Iraqi news agency INA reported on Wednesday.

They told him they hoped his Christmas message would include a call to end "the tragedy of children, women and the elderly in Iraq." The letter was signed by the parliament's human rights and religious, social and health committees, the Iraqi Society for Children , the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the Medical Scientific Society, the Human Rights Society and the Unions of Iraqi Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.