Cardinal: Vatican ready to mediate in Iraq

VATICAN CITY, April 16 (UPI) -- The Vatican says it is available to mediate in the Iraq hostage crisis, the Italian news agency ANSA quoted a senior cleric as saying Saturday.

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican secretariat for Justice and Peace, said: "The Holy See is always ready, as it has been through the ages, to offer its good offices for peace and mediation when requested. I have no doubt that, if asked, (mediation) will not be refused."

The Holy See is the official name of the Vatican in its international diplomatic role.

Vatican sources said Saturday Martino was not speaking for the pope or for the central administration of the Catholic Church officially, but was substantially correct. However, the Vatican had not been asked to mediate in Iraq.

Two years ago, a senior Vatican prelate brokered a ceasefire between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants who had taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. As part of the deal, he also arranged for the safe conduct out of the West Bank and deportation of 13 of the Palestinians.