wfn.org | NCC, WCC Express Concern Over Iraq

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3177 notes).

Note 3177 by UMNS on Sept. 18, 1996 at 15:48 Eastern (2041 characters).

SEARCH: NCC, WCC, Iraq
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
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CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                            463(10-71B){3177}
          New York (212) 870-3803                   Sept. 18, 1996

WCC Central Committee joins NCC 
in concern over U.S. actions toward Iraq

                 by United Methodist News Service

     The World Council of Churches' (WCC) Central Committee has
joined the National Council of Churches (NCC) in expressing
concern about U.S. attacks on Iraq.
     During a Sept. 18 morning session in Geneva, Central
Committee members cited an NCC statement on Iraq, issued Sept. 13,
and called on all nations to "respect the territorial integrity of
Iraq."
     The earlier NCC statement urged the U.S. government to
"pursue a course of military restraint and multilateral diplomacy"
in regard to any continuing actions on Iraq.
     While offering "no sympathy" for the present Iraqi
government, the NCC expressed concern that the humanitarian aid
for its people and "the oil for food and medicine agreement must
not be lost."
     "There is little doubt of the U.S. capacity to strike or of
the will to do so," the statement continued. "However, those who
exploit the need for reprisal or play upon a sad but popular
thirst for U.S. military action must also be challenged."
     The Central Committee also voiced approval of a WCC press
statement, issued Sept. 4, which called the U.S. attacks against
Iraq "indefensible on moral grounds."
     United Methodists who signed the NCC statement were Bishop
Melvin Talbert of San Francisco, also the NCC president; the Rev.
Bruce Robbins, chief executive, United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns; Jan Love of Columbia,
S.C., and Kathryn Bannister of Bison, Kan.
     All four are denominational representatives to the WCC as
well.
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