MIDDLE EAST:Al-Qaeda in Iraq yesterday denounced Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey, calling it part of a "crusader campaign" against Islam. The Vatican said the comments showed the need to fight "violence in the name of God".
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the most feared Islamic militant group there, issued its statement on an Islamic militant website it often uses to post messages.
"The pope's visit, in fact, is to consolidate the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam after the failure of the crusader leaders (in Iraq and Afghanistan) . . . and an attempt to extinguish the burning ember of Islam inside our Turkish brothers," it said.
It said the pope wanted to ensure that Turkey - "once a stronghold of Islam" - remains secular and "is driven into the arms of the European Union to stop the spread of Islam . . . and to guarantee that they stay in the quagmire of secularism established by . . . [ Kemal] Ataturk".
The statement did not include any direct threat to the pope, saying only that the group is "confident in the defeat of Rome in all parts of the Islamic world".
"We have a date with victory and martyrdom and an [ Islamic] state that rules under the commands of God the almighty, and then we shall break the cross and spill the wine," the statement added.
The Vatican said today the al-Qaeda in Iraq denunciation shows the need for faiths to fight "violence in the name of God".
"This type of message shows once again the urgency and importance of a common commitment of all forces against violence," Vatican spokesman Rev Federico Lombardi said. "It also shows the need of various faiths to say 'No' to violence in the name of God."