Imams, rabbis vow joint stand on terrorism

PARIS - An international group of imams and rabbis pledged at the end of a sometimes stormy conference on Wednesday to work together to denounce violence and terrorism and promote understanding between their two faiths.

The World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace, a private group set up in 2005, named a committee to issue joint responses to acts of terror by either side, as a sign that people of faith rejected such violence unconditionally.

The decision was warmly greeted by 85 delegates from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Arab states, Europe and North America, even though they could not agree on a final resolution.

The final session of the three-day talks in Paris see-sawed between testimonies of friendship across religious lines and sharp partisan exchanges over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We want to take back the word of God that extremists stole from us," Alain Michel, head of the Geneva-based association, Hommes de Parole, that organized the meeting, told journalists after announcing the plan for joint statements against violence.

"Now we will speak out, we will condemn violence and terrorism. We've finished letting the one or two percent of extremists claim to speak in our name and in the name of God."

The conference, attended by about 80 imams, rabbis and religious experts including Christians, was the latest in a growing number of interfaith meetings seeking to have moderate voices drown out radicals in the public sphere.

Also on Friday, Pope Benedict met members of the Libya-based World Islamic Call Society to discuss education against radicalism. Earlier this week, a World Council of Churches delegation met Christian and Muslim leaders in Iran.

While this session produced practical results, participants said, it could not agree on a final resolution, as in previous years, because of a disagreement over whether to refer to the Palestinian territories as "occupied."