Christians and Muslims in the Middle East can live together peacefully, Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki told the pope during their audience on Friday.
''In the talks with the pope, Maliki stressed that all the Christians that live in the Middle East must be able to live with Muslims peacefully,'' Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, told ANSA.
''That is what is written in the Koran, which promotes peaceful co-existence among all religions and respect for human dignity,'' Yelda said Maliki told the pope.
The ambassador also provided some details on Maliki's talks with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
''Maliki expressed gratitude for the audience. The secretary of state replied, 'You must believe me, the Holy Father has cancelled all engagements from his agenda and has only made an exception for you'''.
The pope and Maliki did not discuss Tareq Aziz, the former deputy to Saddam Hussein who is facing the death penalty, the ambassador said.
The Italian Radical Party is leading a campaign to save the life of Aziz, who is a Chaldean Christian.
On Thursday Iraqi government spokesman Ali Aldabbagh told ANSA the Iraqi government was amazed by the campaign against ''a person who was part of a brutal government that killed thousands of innocent Iraqis''.
