BEIRUT (Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged multi-faith Lebanon on Saturday to be a model of peace and religious coexistence for the Middle East, which he called a turbulent region that “seems to endure interminable birth pangs”.

The pope, on the second day of a visit clouded by war in neighboring Syria and protests across the Muslim world, told a gathering of Lebanese political, religious and cultural leaders that religious freedom was a basic right for all people.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s visit to Lebanon ranked as potentially his most dangerous even before this week’s protests in the Middle East raised the stakes, but he said on Friday he never considered calling it off for safety reasons.

Syria’s civil war rages only 50 km (30 miles) east of Beirut and the Sunni-Shi’ite tensions it unleashed have sometimes spilled over the border to spark clashes that could upset the fragile peace Lebanon has had since its own war ended in 1990.

BEIRUT, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Pope Benedict appealed for a
stop to arms imports to Syria on Friday, saying it would help
end the civil war there, and said the Arab Spring was a positive
“cry for freedom” as long as it included religious tolerance.

Benedict spoke in his plane flying to Beirut, only 50 km (30
miles) from the border with Syria, for a three-day visit focused
on promoting peace in the Middle East and harmony between its
minority Christians and majority Muslims.