FROM CAROL GLATZ IN ROME

POPE BENEDICT XVI has renewed appeals for an end to "the blind violence" bloodying Iraq and the Holy Land.
He also called on world leaders to begin making "a serious and credible commitment" to peace and justice — efforts, Pope Benedict said, that have yet to be made.
After praying the Sunday Angelus before thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square, the Pope said he continued to follow "with growing concern" the latest tragedies unfolding in the Middle East. His appeal came the day after at least 66 people were killed when a car bomb detonated in a market in a Shiite Muslim neighbourhood of Baghdad.
Palestinian terror attacks and an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip have also left the Holy Land in turmoil. Israel began strikes in an attempt to speed the release of a soldier kidnapped by terrorists.
Pope Benedict predicted that the violence would end in "atrocious carnage" and threatened to "aggravate the crises" that have become "even more tragic" the past few days.
He said justice and a "serious and credible commitment to peace which unfortunately has not been seen" are needed.
He said no one was exempt from 'The duty to build a peaceflu coexistence" in which everyone recognised the other as a brother or sister regardless of race or nationality.