CARDINAL SODANO RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF IRAQI PARLIAMENT

VATICAN CITY, JUN 9, 2000 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration this afternoon:

"Today, June 9, President Saadoun Hammadi of the Iraqi parliament, along with a delegation, was received in audience by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, who was accompanied by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for relations with States.

"The talks allowed for a broad exchange of opinions on the situation in Iraq, with special reference to the negative effects of the sanctions on the living conditions of the population.

"The Iraq delegation was shown how much has been done by Pope John Paul II and by the Holy See in favor of Iraq, from the start of the Gulf War right to today.

"The cardinal secretary of state assured his interlocutors of the closeness of the Holy See to the suffering populations."

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