Religious leaders talk politics

The summit includes a large variety of religious faiths

Songs and prayer have opened a conference in New York of about 1,000 spiritual leaders from around the world.

Sometimes you have a meeting between people who are officially enemies who find they like each other

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

The Millennium World Peace Summit, at the United Nations headquarters, is aimed at boosting the role of religion on the political scene.

Participants hope the summit will end on Thursday with a declaration on peace, poverty and the environment, as well as the formation of a council of religious leaders.

But the event has been overshadowed by an international row over the omission of the Dalai Lama from the list of invited guests.

Tibet protest

The Nobel Peace Laureate was excluded because the organisers reasoned that China, who regards him as a political trouble-maker, would have used its power at the UN to block his presence.

Prayers marked the opening of the summit

During the summit's opening session on Monday, a group of about 150 Tibetan monks, exiles and activists protested outside the building.

"To not invite him is totally incongruous with what we're trying to do here," said Yangdon Tsering, a Tibetan exile who lives in New Jersey.

Personal meetings

But inside the conference the talk was of the role of religion in conflict resolution. There will be specific workshops on the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

"This afternoon, this General Assembly hall has become a sanctuary," the summit general secretary Bawa Jain told the audience.

And Israeli Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a leading Talmudic scholar, spoke of his optimism that religious leaders could help peace efforts.

Israel's Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, is attending the meeting

"Sometimes you have a meeting between people who are officially enemies who find they like each other," he said. "That makes more of a difference than resolutions."

Among the religious and spiritual leaders at the summit are the Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheik Ahmad Kaftaro, and Israel's Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau.

The Chief Rabbi said he hope to talk to Muslim sheiks during the conference.

"Here we are not in a hostile neighbourhood," he said.

Sheikh Abdoulaye Dieye of Senegal said he had mixed feelings about the summit.

"I'm full of hope, but I have fears," he said. "The summit is a very good thing for humanity if we manage it properly.

"There shouldn't be too much politics."

The summit has the full backing of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, though it is not officially a UN-sponsored affair.

It is the first time so many leaders from different faiths and regions have come together on a distinctly political platform.