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By Sheila Jacobs (*)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) called today for the immediate release of four peace-workers kidnapped in Iraq. In a statement signed by Peter Weiderud, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, the WCC asked the government of Iraq to undertake whatever steps are necessary to secure the safe release of the four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

"I have learned to see everyone infected as a brother, a sister, a niece, a nephew - a close relative," said Samuel Kobia this afternoon in Bern. The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary was speaking at an ecumenical event for World AIDS Day held outside the Swiss parliament.

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Whether in European suburbs or Middle Eastern capitals, religious identity can often seem to be a source or fuel of conflict. And as many Western societies struggle to adapt to an emerging multicultural and multireligious reality, issues of tolerance and "living together" become ever more acute.

Larbi Kechat , an Algerian sociologist who is the rector of the Adda'wa mosque in Paris, French rap singer Abd Al Malik , and former vice chair of the Federal Council, and former president of the Swiss Confederation, Ruth Dreifuss , are among well-known personalities expected at an

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Samuel Kobia has called on the Ethiopian government "to exercise utmost restraint and bring to an immediate halt the military action against the people and release the political prisoners as soon as possible".