Sunday Telegraph , 01/06/2008 (excerpts) – Benedict XVI has cancelled meetings with seven world leaders to avoid an encounter with President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad of Iran.
Mr Ahamdinejad is one of 40 heads of state arriving in Rome on Tuesday for a vital United Nations summit on the world’s food crisis.
Mr Ahamdinejad was keen to meet Benedict XVI, after writing to him two years ago on the subject of spirituality and the need for dialogue between Islam and Christianity.
However, the Pope was keen to avoid the glare of publicity that would have been triggered by a one-to-one meeting with Mr Ahamdinejad.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, President Evo Morales of Bolivia and several African leaders also asked for a papal meeting.
The Vatican briefly considered a single audience for all the heads of state.
However, it eventually decided to refuse all the requests in order to avoid any potential embarrassment. It did not comment further on the decision.
Gholam-Hossein Elham, the Iranian spokesman, confirmed that the Vatican had refused all meetings and added that Iran had never formally requested a meeting.
Italy has taken a strong stance against Iran, and repeated over the weekend that it would not have bilateral talks with anyone “who says that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth”.
The centre of Rome has been locked down for the duration of the summit.
Several main thoroughfares will be closed, bomb squads have swept the sewers and extra security has been called in.