Pope appeals for peace in Africa

Pope Benedict XVI has called on faithful not to forget the wars ravaging some African countries, and has appealed to politicians to end fighting in Somalia and Burundi and put a stop to the “endless tragedy” in Darfur.

During his traditional Sunday blessing, the pope expressed “suffering and preoccupation” over news of fresh violence in Africa.

Speaking to a crowd of faithful in St Peter’s Square, Benedict deplored the fighting in Somalia, centred in the capital Mogadishu, bloody clashes between government forces and rebels in Burundi and the plight of “hundreds of thousands of defenceless and abandoned people” in Sudan’s Darfur region.

He appealed to local politicians and the international community to “spare no effort” to restore peace.