VATICAN CITY- Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal to political and military leaders to protect the safety and security of civilians and guarantee the free flow of humanitarian aid inside Libya.As U.S., British and French military began a series of strikes against Libya's air defenses March 19 as part of a U.N.-approved effort to protect pro-democracy protesters from retaliation by Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the pope said he was following the events with great concern and praying for those involved in "the dramatic situation."
He prayed that "peace and concord would soon reign over Libya and the entire North African region."
Meanwhile, Bishop Giovanni Martinelli of Tripoli, Libya, criticized the rash and hasty decision to use military action against Gadhafi rather than pursue a negotiated solution.
"I hope for (Gadhafi's) surrender, but I think that Gadhafi will not give in," he told the Italian news agency, ANSA, March 20.
The bishop said he is familiar with the Libyan leader's personality and past behavior and believes the use of military force against him will only intensify the severity of Gadhafi's reaction.
He said allowing foreign troops to launch a military offensive against Gadhafi "has given the go-ahead to the wrong strategy;" he said more could have been done in seeking a diplomatic or negotiated solution to the crisis.
"Violence only brings violence," he said.
The Italian bishop said he had been working to mediate the crisis through a Libyan-funded interreligious organization called the World Islamic Call Society, but that the launch of military strikes cut short his attempts.
"The military action was too hasty, too sudden," he said.
Bishop Martinelli told Fides, news agency of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, March 21, "War does not solve anything."
"We need to cease shooting immediately and begin mediation straight away to resolve the crisis peacefully. Why have diplomatic means not been considered?" he said.
He told both ANSA and Fides that he had been hearing explosions and that people were fleeing the capital, but he said he was not leaving Tripoli.
"This is my home," he told ANSA, and the church is an important point of reference for the Christians in Libya, many of whom are refugees from Eritrea or workers from the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa.
He told Fides that he was working to help Eritrean refugees trapped in Libya get to the border of Tunisia.
He said he "spoke with the bishop of Tunis to see if they can accept them, given that on their side of the border there are international humanitarian aid organizations."
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