VATICAN CITY: Syrian Vice President Faruq Al-Shara discussed with Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday the problems of Iraqi refugees in Syria and the Middle East situation, a Vatican statement said.
Shara also handed the pope a personal message from President Bashar Al-Assad, the statement said, adding that Shara also met the Vatican s equivalent of foreign minister, Dominique Mamberti.
The talks covered the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the fighting in Iraq, which Syria was taking in and the aid expected from international bodies to enable Damascus to cope.
Shara also raised the question of the decisive contribution that the Syrian Arab Republic can make to overcome the serious crises affecting many people of the Middle East , the statement added.
The meeting comes as Italy is making a new effort to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Shara, Israel s President Shimon Peres and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora all in Rome this week.
Prime Minister Romano Prodi s agenda included talks with Siniora on Tuesday, Peres on Wednesday and Shara on Thursday, while Peres is to meet Benedict XV on Thursday.
It is the Israeli president s first visit abroad since being elected on June 13.
Prodi was in Jordan last weekend while his foreign minister, Massimo d Alema, is currently on a tour of Israel and Egypt.
