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Bush
Heads Home, Discusses Middle East and Priest Sex Scandal with
Vatican
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Bush, Powell and Rice |
WASHINGTON
D.C. (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. President George W. Bush
concluded his trip to Europe Tuesday after meeting with Pope John Paul
II to discuss the Middle East and the sex scandal rocking the Catholic
Church in the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated the trip was
a “success” despite “disagreements”.
Bush
held brief talks at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II on Tuesday,
broaching with an increasingly frail pontiff the touchy topics of the
Middle East crisis and the pedophile scandals that have rocked the
Roman Catholic Church in the United States, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"The
most pressing international problems including that of the Middle East
were touched upon. Aside from political aspects, the meeting raised
the humanitarian dimension of the dramatic situation faced by the
Palestinian and Israeli peoples."
It
said the pope also raised the "difficult situation" of
Christians in the Middle East. Christian holy cites in Jerusalem have
been heavily targeted by Israeli forces and Palestinians of Christian
descent have also been killed by Israeli troops.
The
U.S. President was due to head home to Washington after his audience
with the pope, which ended at 4:40 pm (1440 GMT) and wound up Bush's
week-long tour in Europe.
While
differences remain, the major successes of the trip were Bush's
deepening ties with Putin, as well as the warm personal relationship
he cultivates with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has
never hid his admiration for the United States, and Bush in
particular, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Secretary
of State Powell's assessment of the trip and Washington's position
regarding its management of differences with European allies carried
the faint whiff of arrogance which has often tainted its
trans-Atlantic relations, AFP reported.
Bush
was "that kind of leader" who sticks with his principles,
claimed Powell. "And he speaks clearly, he speaks directly, and
he makes sure people knows what he believes in. And then he tries to
persuade others why that is the correct position.
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