Pope Concerned About Africa’s Tensions

By Eric Sande

Vatican City--Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday articulated his great concern over the ongoing uprising in several African countries, with emphasis on Libya.

Speaking to AFP, Benedict said,” I follow with great concern the tensions in several countries in Africa and Asia in these days," the pope said in Italian after the weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

He aired his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the crisis in Libya "where recent clashes have caused numerous deaths and a growing humanitarian crisis."

"To all the victims and those who find themselves in distressing situations I send my prayers ... while I ask for help and aid for the affected peoples," he added.

World leaders have called on Muammar Gaddafi to leave office with the International efforts to respond to the Libyan crisis gathering pace under US leadership.  

Gaddafi is said to be running out of options and friends. He has been in power for 42 years. He has since been applying force using aircraft, tanks and foreign mercenaries in the growing days of violence that has killed hundreds in the bloodiest of the uprisings to shake the Arab world.  

According to senior French human rights official, it was claimed that up to 2,000 people may have died in the uprising.