Vatican condemns bombings in Turkey

The Vatican has issued a strong condemnation of yesterday's bombings in Turkey which have left at least 26 people dead and more than 300 injured. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said: "The barbaric logic of terrorism causes only the death of innocents and destruction. What is more, it worsens the problems it wants to resolve." He also quoted Pope John Paul II's description of acts of terrorism being based on a "contempt of human dignity", and as a "crime against humanity". The bombings are suspected to have been carried out by fundamentalist Islamist suicide car bombers in a strike against Britain for its support for the US led invasion of Iraq. The bombings seriously damaged the British consulate and the Istanbul headquarters of London based bank HSBC and occurred while US President George W Bush is in London to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his chief ally in the war in Iraq.