Pope: Importing Arms to Syria Is 'Grave Sin'

He arrives in Lebanon to call for peace even as protests erupt there
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 14, 2012 12:00 PM CDT
Pope: Importing Arms to Syria Is 'Grave Sin'
Pope Benedict XVI, left, stands next to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman as he waves to the crowds at Rafik Hariri international airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday.   (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

With protests raging not far away, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon today, calling for peace and "moderation" amid conflicts in Syria and across the region. "Instead of importing arms, which is a grave sin, one should import ideas of peace, creativity, find solutions for accepting everyone in his otherness," he said, apparently referring to Bashar al-Assad's government, the rebels fighting him, and the nations sending weapons to both. He spoke approvingly of the Arab Spring, but added that "there is always a danger of forgetting a fundamental aspect of liberty: tolerance for others and the fact that human liberty is always a shared liberty."

Meanwhile, protests related to the anti-Islam film made in the US broke out in the Lebanese city of Tripoli, CNN reports. Armed men entered a local KFC and asked people to leave before setting it on fire; responding police fired at the men and killed one. Some 25 were injured. A Hardee's and a Krispy Kreme also were attacked, the AP reports. Click for a roundup of other protests today. (More Lebanon stories.)

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