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Minggu, 07 Maret 2021

'Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart': Pope's message to packed Erbil stadium - Sky News

Pope Francis has said Mass to thousands of people in the packed Franso Hariri stadium in Erbil.

At the end of the last official event before he returns to Rome on Monday, Francis told the crowd: "Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart."

He closed by saying "salam, salam, salam [peace, peace, peace]".

Earlier, The Pope led prayers in Mosul - a former stronghold of terror group Islamic State.

He flew in by helicopter and was greeted by crowds in the decimated northern Iraqi city, where just a handful of Christian families now live.

Thousands of Christians fled the area during the IS occupation, where they were faced with conversion, death, or paying a tax for non-Muslims.

On the way to the venue, he stopped by the ruins of homes and cathedrals that had been destroyed by IS violence, to hold a moment of silence.

He then took part in the service from a once-bustling city square, surrounded by the ruins of several damaged churches, which were destroyed when IS overran the area in 2014.

"How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed and many thousands of people - Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and others - forcibly displaced or killed," he told the crowd.

"Today, however, we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than hatred, that peace more powerful than war."

Pope Francis added that hope could not be "silenced by the blood spilled by those who pervert the name of God to pursue paths of destruction".

In prayer, he said: "If God is the God of life - for so he is - then it is wrong for us to kill our brothers and sisters in his name. If God is the God of peace - for so he is - then it is wrong for us to wage war in his name.

"If God is the God of love - for so he is - then it is wrong for us to hate our brothers and sisters."

He concluded the prayer saying: "To you we entrust all those whose span of earthly life was cut short by the violent hand of their brothers and sisters; we also pray to you for those who caused such harm to their brothers and sisters. May they repent, touched by the power of your mercy."

A white dove was also released by Pope Francis, to symbolise peace - a running theme for his papal visit.

In 2014, in Mosul's al-Nuri mosque, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi gave a sermon in an extremely rare public appearance, where he announced the IS caliphate.

Mosul was liberated in July 2017 after a brutal three-year regime of terror in the city, that left an estimated 9,000-11,000 people dead.

The Vatican hopes that Pope Francis's appearance in Mosul will encourage Christian communities to stay in the area, despite years of violence and persecution.

The Pope visited one of the most influential Muslim leaders in the world on Saturday, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, where the men discussed the issues facing Christian communities in the country.

Following the meeting, al Sistani said he wanted Muslims and Christians to coexist in Iraq, and called on other religious leaders to hold great powers to account and for wisdom and sense to prevail over war.

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2021-03-07 16:38:18Z
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World War 3 warning: China's chilling threat to US as Biden told he's 'playing with fire' - Daily Express

China: PLA Rocket Force issues rally cry with musical promotion

And the superpower’s foreign minister has emphasised China’s absolute refusal to countenance any compromise or concessions with respect to the island. Speaking today in Beijing, Wang Yii urged the Biden administration to roll back what he called former President Trump’s “dangerous practice” of showing support for Taiwan, which China regards as its own territory in accordance with its “One China” policy.

Wang told a news conference during the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature his country’s claim on Taiwan was an “insurmountable red line”.

He added: “The Chinese government has no room for compromise or concessions on the Taiwan issue.

“We urge the new US administration to fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue.”

Joe Biden Xi Jinping

US President Joe Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping (Image: GETTY)

Wang Yi

Wang Yi speaking by videolink during today's event (Image: GETTY)

He urged Mr Biden to “completely change the previous administration’s dangerous practices of ‘crossing the line’ and ‘playing with fire’.”

Wang would not be drawn on what action his country might take if Mr Biden does not reverse course.

However, the Communist Party has vowed to invade if Taiwan, which unlike the mainland operates as a democracy, ever declares formal independence.

Taiwan military exercise

A tank takes part in a Taiwanese military exercise (Image: GETTY)

Under Mr Trump, tensions over the island spiked significantly, especially after two senior officials, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Keith Krach, who served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, visited last year.

In an apparent response to Mr Krach’s visit, the PLA launched a series of military drills which resulted in 19 Chinese jets crossing the median line which runs along the Taiwan Strait, and which has traditionally been regarded as a de facto maritime border.

Mr Biden is on record as saying he wants to improve US/China relations, but has showed no indicated that he will relax the pressure on trade, technology and human rights.

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Wang Yi China

Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, said Mr Biden was "playing with fire" (Image: GETTY)

Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's democratically elected President (Image: GETTY)

Ketian Zhang, an Assistant Professor at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government, underlined China’s hardline stance on the issue in an interview with Express.co.uk last year.

She said: "I would say the tension surrounding Taiwan has worsened since Trump took office, and the worsening of cross-strait relations is a gradual process.

"China does have a red line, which is that Taiwan should not declare de jure independence.

"If it does so, it is highly likely that China will resort to the use of force."

China military power

China's military power in numbers (Image: Express)

She added: “The Chinese Communist Party’s endgame is eventual unification, preferably peacefully.

"But if Taiwan declares de jure independence, China is highly likely to use force."

Also speaking last year, Derek Grossman, Senior Defence Analyst at the RAND Corporation specialising in China, told Express.co.uk: "China is increasingly threatening Taiwan with military force.”

Referring to the official visits, he said: “Tensions are certainly worsening, not only because of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s reelection in January 2020 (she does not recognise the '1992 Consensus' upholding 'One China'), but also because the Trump administration has sent senior level officials to the island in violation, from Beijing’s perspective, of Washington’s One China Policy.

Taiwan South China Sea

Taiwan and the South China Sea mapped (Image: Express)

"These visits are unacceptable for Beijing because they treat Taiwan as a sovereign nation, whereas China has traditionally viewed Taiwan as a renegade province of the mainland."

He added: "Going forward, I still assess the likelihood that China would seek to invade Taiwan as exceptionally low, but that probability has been ticking up these last few years.

"My main concern is that as US-China competition continues to ramp up and bilateral relations spiral to their lowest point perhaps ever, that Beijing will come to believe that Washington does, in fact, seek to use Taiwan to 'contain' China, and thus action is required to reverse the unfavourable trend.

"I certainly don’t think Xi wants war, and neither does Trump, but it will be increasingly difficult for China to sit on the sidelines as US-Taiwan relations reach new heights - primarily with the common goal of pushing back against China."

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2021-03-07 11:56:52Z
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Pope in Iraq: The pontiff's symbolic visit amid the rubble came with a message of peace and hope - Sky News

In a visit full of historic firsts, surely the most symbolic moment came this Sunday morning.

The Pope was in the rubble of an Iraqi city that came to define extremist intolerance; he was in Mosul with his message of peace.

In a clearing next to the city's ruined Al Tahera church he prayed for the victims of war.

He sat in a white chair on a raised platform carpeted in red and surrounded by the grey concrete rubble of years of war.

Only a small number of people were permitted to sit in the congregation. Coronavirus and security risks are limiting his audiences throughout this trip.

But the imagery alone - broadcast globally - delivers his message of unity, tolerance and dialogue.

Just seven years ago, in this city, the leader of the so-called Islamic State, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, clad in black, declared a caliphate that would stretch to Rome.

Mosul was occupied by ISIS, as the Islamic State is also known, for four years. It took a year of urban warfare of the type not seen since World War Two to liberate the city.

The legacy, in rubble, is all around.

After the short service of prayer the Pope was driven around a small secure part of the old city to see the destruction.

From Mosul he moved to the Christian village of Qaraqosh. To the southeast, it was also occupied by ISIS. At its height, the Islamic State held one third of Iraq.

In the town I met Abu Walid and his family. They were trapped in their home when ISIS took their town.

For nearly three weeks he was beaten for not accepting their way of life. The family escaped but their trauma is still so painfully clear.

"I was scared for my daughter, God forbid anything happened to her," Abu Walid told me.

"I thought they (ISIS) would take my sons from me; that my sons would end up like them. If I don't accept (their way of life) they would put a bullet in my head." He gestured with his hand.

"But God was with us and protected us. And people prayed for us."

His wife Um was sobbing next to him.

"Can you imagine we had a psychological breakdown from the fear. You're sitting in your house; you cannot leave or go anywhere. You can't make a sound or switch on your lights. It was like living in a crypt underground from the fear," Abu Walid adds.

"It's like you were dead and buried. You are in a grave. Your body is dead but you're still breathing."

Two of their three children were sitting with them. Their daughter was born with learning difficulties, and they tell me all three children now have psychological trauma.

It was clear from our chat that they are all deeply scarred. But they did live, and they have now returned to their Christian town. The hope is that tolerance and peace will allow more to do the same.

The sense I got is that the visit of Pope Francis will bring them some strength. For all the jeopardy of his visit, it means so much to people like Abu Walid.

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2021-03-07 09:53:52Z
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Pope leads prayers in Mosul - former Islamic State stronghold in Iraq - Sky News

Pope Francis has led prayers in Mosul on his tour of Iraq - a former stronghold of terror group Islamic State.

The Pope flew in by helicopter from nearby Erbil, and was greeted by crowds in the decimated northern Iraqi city, where just a handful of Christian families now live.