'Preventive war needs proof of coming attack'

A major Vatican document issued a week ahead of the US elections forcefully restated yesterday the Catholic Church's position that preventive wars are permissible only with "clear proof" of an imminent attack.

The position on war and peace, on legitimate defence and aggression was included in the new Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a 330-page tome published by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

While the book is mainly a compilation of known Church teachings on a host of social issues, its chapter called The Promotion of Peace, is one of the most topical because of the war in Iraq and the November 2 US presidential elections.

It made no specific reference to Iraq, but defended the Charter of the United Nations, which prohibits a recourse to conflict to resolve disputes except in cases of legitimate defence and when backed by the UN Security Council.

"Therefore, engaging in a preventive war without clear proof that an attack is imminent cannot fail to raise serious moral and juridical questions," it said.

The Vatican strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and the Pope sent senior cardinals to US President George Bush and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to try to avert it.

The Vatican envoy the Pope dispatched to Washington before the invasion, Cardinal Pio Laghi, emerged from his meeting with Mr Bush and said any war without UN backing would be "illegal".

The new compendium appeared to back up that position. "International legitimacy for the use of armed force... can only be given by the decision of a competent body that identifies specific situations as threats to peace...," it said. It also spoke of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which the Bush administration said was a main reason for the invasion.

Biological, chemical or nuclear weapons represent a particularly serious threat and those who possess them have an enormous responsibility before God and all of humanity, it said.

The doctrine of preemptive attacks against potential enemies became a key element of Mr Bush's national security policy after the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities. But critics say failure to find WMD in Iraq undermined the case for war.

Iraq and WMD have become key issues in the US campaign but Cardinal Raffaele Martino told a news conference that the timing of the publication of the book had no link to the elections.

The Vatican compendium called terrorism "one of the most brutal forms of violence traumatising the international community today" and says people and countries have a legitimate right to defend themselves from it.

"However, this right cannot be exercised in the absence of moral and legal norms, because the struggle against terrorists must be carried out with respect for human rights...," it said.

That section appeared to be applicable to criticism by human rights groups and legal groups about the treatment of terror suspects held at a US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The identification of the guilty party must be duly proven, because criminal responsibility is always personal, and therefore cannot be extended to the religions, nations or ethnic groups to which the terrorists belong," it said.