Thousands of people cheered loudly after Pope Benedict XVI blessed the crowd at St. Peter's Square on Sunday and delivered a message of peace as he celebrated his first Easter mass as Pope. Speaking from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican City, Pope Benedict called on faithful Roman Catholics to pray for peace in Iraq and a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

He called for dialogue to overcome the obstacles between Israelis and the Palestinians. He defended Israel's right to exist, but called firmly for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Pope Benedict also spoke of the importance of finding a negotiated and "honourable solution" for the Iran nuclear crisis.

The Pope urged that peace would "finally prevail" in Iraq, where he said violence "continues mercilessly to claim victims." He also spoke of the hardships in Latin America and Africa, particularly Sudan's troubled Darfur region. At the end of the mass, he addressed the crowd from the terrace of St. Peter's Basilica to give the traditional Urbi et Orbi address (Latin for "to the city and to the world").

BEIRUT. (RIA Novosti political commentator Marianna Belenkaya) -- These days the Lebanese are observing one more anniversary of the start of the civil war, which broke out in 1975 and ended in 1990.

The 15 year long confrontation involved not only different ethnic, religious, and political groups in Lebanon but also outside forces. The war ended more than 15 years ago, but the Lebanese are haunted by the fear that history may repeat itself, and this fear is well justified. At the same time, Lebanon is trying to return its prewar glory of a Mid-Eastern Switzerland, a paradise for tourists and businessmen. Will discord prevail over a common striving of the Lebanese to make their country prosperous?

The lessons of the past are making the Lebanese politicians very cautious - despite periodic political rows inside the government and parliament, they always come back to the negotiating table. But does everything depend on the Lebanese alone? They are under a very strong influence of the outside forces, and their country depends too much on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East in general.