wfn.org | NCC GENERAL SECRETARY COMMENDS POWELL MISSION

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
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NCC4/4/02 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC GENERAL SECRETARY COMMENDS POWELL MISSION

Statement by Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary
National Council of Churches, New York City
April 4, 2002

We commend President Bush for his decisive response to the escalating
violence in the Middle East by sending Secretary of State Colin Powell on a
mission of the most urgent diplomacy.  We hope that it signals a more
assertive level of involvement by the Bush administration in seeking a halt
to the senseless slaughter of innocent persons on both sides, and rapid
movement toward an enduring solution to the causes of the conflict.

Action by our government is critically needed to help break the terrible
deadlock, which has gripped the whole region in a cycle of mutual aggression
and retaliation. The National Council of Churches offers its earnest prayers
for Secretary Powell and General Zinni and the success of their mission.

We also seek to be peacemakers in this troubled Holy Land where peace should
be paramount. An NCC-sponsored visit to the region later this month by an
ecumenical delegation of American church leaders, undertaken at the
invitation of our fellow Christians in the Middle East, will seek to partner
with them to foster a climate for lasting peace.

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