archbishop                                                     
London, Mar. 20, IRNA -- Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams   
warned Thursday that the immediate future of the Middle East region   
was uncharted following the launch of a US-led war against Iraq.      
   "The road that has led us to military action with Iraq has been a  
long and difficult one. It is clear that we have now entered          
dangerous new terrain with consequences that cannot be surely known   
or predicted," the spiritual leader of the Church of England said.    
   In a joint statement with the Archbishop of York, Dr. David Hope,  
he said that their prayers at this difficult and troubling time were  
with "all those who will find themselves embroiled in conflict and    
its consequences."                                                    
   "We pray for servicemen and women and their families, those who    
seek to support and to sustain them, and for the people of Iraq and   
the region, whose immediate future is so unchartered," their          
statement, obtained by IRNA, said.                                    
   The two most senior members of the Anglican church said that their 
prayer above all was that "through God's mercy and compassion, peace  
with justice may come swiftly."                                       
   In a joint statement with Britain's Catholic leader Cardinal       
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor last month, the Archbishop of Canterbury       
raised "doubts" about the moral legitimacy and unpredictable          
humanitarian consequences of launching a war against Iraq.            
   Earlier Thursday, four Church of England bishops expressed "great  
concern" over the decision to declare war against Iraq, questioning   
whether such military action is justified.                            
   Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, a Christian umbrella     
body, also joined the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) in calling for  
all involved in the war to weigh up carefully the human costs and     
other likely consequences of the war.                                 
   In its own statement, the MCB described the launch of the war as a 
"black day" for Britain and said it would have long implications for  
UK's relations with much of the rest of the world, especially with    
Islamic countries.                                                    
HC/RR                                                                 
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