VATICAN CITY, March 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pope John Paul II has issued an urgent appeal for peace in the Middle East, saying in his Easter Sunday address that "nothing is resolved by war".

Addressing a crowd of 50,000 pilgrims in St Peter's Square in Rome, he called for an end to the "dramatic spiral of abuse of power and killings that bloody the Holy Land, plunged again in these very days into horror and despair."

Pope John Paul added: "It seems that war has been declared on peace. But nothing is resolved by war. It only brings greater suffering and death. Neither do retaliation and reprisals resolve anything. The tragedy is truly great."

"No one can remain silent and inactive, no political or religious leader!

"Denunciation must be followed by practical acts of solidarity that will help everyone to rediscover mutual respect and return to frank negotiation."

The pope spoke as Israeli occupation soldiers attacked Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, despite a U.N. call for Israel to lift the siege.

Even though he did not mention Israelis and Palestinians by name, the Pope's meaning was crystal clear.

The Pope asked the congregation also to remember those suffering throughout the world.

"From Afghanistan, terribly afflicted in recent months and now stricken by a disastrous earthquake, to so many other countries of the world where social imbalances and rival ambitions still torment countless numbers of our brothers and sisters," he said.