Pope Benedict appealed on Friday for a halt to the flow of arms into Syria, saying it would help end a civil war that has killed many thousands of people and which Christians fear could bring Islamists to power. In his strongest comments yet on the conflict, Benedict branded the weapons imports as a "grave sin" as he arrived at the start of a three-day visit to Beirut, the Lebanese capital just 50 km (30 miles) from the Syrian border.
He also described Arab uprisings as a positive "cry for freedom" as long as they included religious tolerance - the central theme of Benedict's trip which is focused on promoting peace in the Middle East and harmony between its minority Christians and majority Muslims.
Christian, Sunni and Shia Muslim and Druze religious leaders joined Lebanon's political elite in greeting Benedict on his arrival in a region now rocked by violent protests against the blasphemous film. "The import of weapons has to finally stop," Benedict, 85, told journalists on the plane. "Without the import of arms the war cannot continue. Instead of importing weapons, which is a grave sin, we have to import ideas of peace and creativity."
The Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian leaders were "a positive thing. There is a desire for more democracy, more freedoms, more co-operation and renewal," he said. But he added that it had to include tolerance for other religions. Asked about Christian fears about rising aggression from Islamist radicals, Benedict said: "Fundamentalism is always a falsification of religion."
All main faith groups in Lebanon, which was gripped by civil war along sectarian lines from 1975 to 1990, have welcomed his visit. Among banners greeting Benedict on the road from the airport were several from the militant Shia group Hezbollah. The Vatican spokesman, Reverend Federico Lombardi, later said the pope had no specific message for the Syrian leadership but only expressed "general moral principles ... as a moral religious figure and not a politician".
Clashes from the Syrian war - an opposition group says more than 27,000 people have been killed in the uprising - have occasionally spilled over into Lebanon, evoking fears of renewed strife there. In Saint Paul's Basilica overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Benedict appealed to religious leaders to do all they could to uproot the threat of fundamentalism which he said "indiscriminately and fatally affects believers of all religions".
The call came in a so-called "apostolic exhortation" to Middle Eastern Christians which the pope formally issued in a signing ceremony watched by Lebanese church leaders. The document said the Middle East was suffering a "haemorrhage of Christians who find themselves in a delicate position, at times without hope". Benedict asked political and religious leaders to avoid policies that would lead to a "monochromatic Middle East". Benedict will also hold two major open-air events and meet leaders of all Lebanon's many Christian and Islamic communities, as well as the country's political leaders, during his visit.
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