The cardinal and other leading Catholic churchmen held discussions on the Iraq crisis in Connell's Dublin palace with Sheikh Hussein Halawa, secretary of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, and Noah Al-Kadoo, executive director of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland.

"All were agreed in deploring the appalling destruction of life and property taking place in Iraq," they said in a joint statement after the meeting.

The statement also expressed "profound regret that the issue which provoked the war" -- Baghdad's refusal to give up its alleged weapons of mass destruction -- "was not allowed more time to be resolved through peaceful means as envisaged by the United Nations."

The two groups now plan to have consultations about Iraq with leaders of other religious faiths in Ireland.

SPACE.WIRE