Iraqi girl wants to thank pope
2005-02-28 08:19
Rome - An Iraqi girl wounded by a bomb during the war and being treated at the same hospital as Pope John Paul II asked on Sunday to see the pontiff to thank him for his anti-war stance.
The four-year-old girl, identified only as Diar, was brought to Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic hospital on Saturday from her home town of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, said her grandfather, Hassan Shnawah, who accompanied her. She was wounded by a bomb in January 2004 and cannot walk.
"We are trying to make her walk again," Shnawah told reporters.
Shnawah said the girl, who is Muslim and did not know who the pope was, saw footage of John Paul on TV Sunday morning and expressed a desire to meet him.
The pope was taken to Gemelli on Thursday after his second breathing crisis in less than a month, and hours later he underwent surgery to insert a tube in his throat to ease his breathing. On Sunday, he made a surprise appearance at a hospital window.
"He is a man of religion, a true man who repudiates war," said Shnawah, referring to the pope's fierce criticism of the US-led war in Iraq. "And for this reason we love him."
"He is a good man," Shnawah said. "Let's hope they can both get well."
Shnawah said he tried to get close to the pope's room, but was not allowed to. He said, however, that no formal request for a visit had been put forth to the pope's entourage at the hospital.
Earlier this month, during the pope's previous hospital stay for breathing problems, John Paul received a boy who was being treated for cancer in his suite on the 10th floor of the hospital, officials reported.
The 84-year-old pope holds young people very dear, and often appears cheered up by their presence at Vatican ceremonies and during trips.
- AP