Pope John Paul appealed yesterday for the release of the French and other hostages in Iraq, saying human beings could not be treated like merchandise.
The 84-year-old Pope made his appeal in an address accepting the Political Courage Prize given to him by France's International Politics magazine.
"I am also thinking of the hostages and their families, innocent victims of violence and hate," he said in his French address to a group of dignitaries from France.
"I invite all people of goodwill to respect people's lives. Nothing can justify treating human beings like merchandise. The path of violence is a path with no way out."
Meanwhile, President Jacques Chirac of France is "concerned" at attempts by a French deputy to secure the release of two French hostages held in Iraq, saying he hoped it would not have negative consequences, aides said yesterday.
The lawmaker, Didier Julia, claimed late Friday in Damascus that US forces had torpedoed his private effort to free the two French journalists by firing on a convoy allegedly bringing them out of Iraq.
Julia, a member of Chirac's ruling party, said an assistant had persuaded the kidnappers to release Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, who were abducted near Baghdad on Aug. 20.
Chirac's aides said that the president did not think the initiative was a positive development and "especially hopes that it will not be negative" for the reporters and their driver.
An insurgent group called the Islamic Army in Iraq is thought to be holding the hostages.
Chirac is "concerned at this interference in a delicate process," the aides said, while acknowledging that every avenue must be explored to try to secure the hostages' release.
Also yesterday, an imprisoned Islamic preacher rejected demands by Iraqi militants that he be released in return for two Indonesian women held hostage in Iraq, his lawyer said.
Instead, Abu Bakar Bashir, 66, asked the hostage-takers to immediately release Rosidah binti Anom and Rafikan binti Amin unconditionally, his lawyer Mahendradatta told Elshinta radio.
"Because he rejects being freed by means outside the law," the lawyer said.
A militant group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq made the request for Bashir's release in a video broadcast by al-Jazeera television.
Mahendradatta said the Indonesian cleric became extremely angry when he learned of the demand because it is forbidden by Islam to take innocent women hostage.
"Maybe the people who did this forgot that there are certain parameters or paradigms that cannot be violated in the Islamic struggle. These have been violated," Mahendradatta said.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS