POPE SPEAKS ON SITUATION IN ERITREA, ETHIOPIA

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 1999 (VIS) - At the close of the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father said that "comforting news is reaching us from east Africa; the great and praiseworthy efforts being made by the international community, especially the Organization for African States, towards a negotiated solution to the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, are bearing their first fruits.

"We pray that the obstacles will be surmounted and that the distrust still remaining will be overcome and that, in this way, so many 'countries in pain' may be offered the encouraging testimony that peace is always possible."

AG;PEACE EAST AFRICA;...;...;VIS;19991006;Word: 110;