Episcopal Press and News

Church Leader Asks UN Official to Renew Middle East Peace Efforts

Episcopal News Service. October 17, 1997 [97-1981G]

(ENI) The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Oriental Orthodox) based in Lebanon has called on the United Nations to renew its efforts to achieve Middle East peace and the full independence of Lebanon. In a recent meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia, Lebanon, emphasized the necessity of "giving a new push, a new dynamism to the peace process." Aram said he also called for the UN to address human rights issues "more seriously." He spoke particularly of the need for self-determination for the people of Nagorno-Karabagh, a predominantly Muslim region surrounded by Azerbaijan and populated largely by Armenians. Aram, who is moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, also told Annan that the WCC and the UN should develop a closer working relationship.