Industrialized Nations Arms Sales Africa

In a powerful appeal for international help, African bishops of the Roman Catholic Church on Friday urged the world's rich nations to stop arming warring factions in Africa and to ease the debt burden on a continent scourged by violence and hunger. The appeals came in the closing document of a monthlong congress of church leaders from Africa summoned by Pope John Paul II, a frequent observer at the bishops' deliberations until felled last week by a broken leg.

In a powerful appeal for international help, African bishops of the Roman Catholic Church on Friday urged the world's rich nations to stop arming warring factions in Africa and to ease the debt burden on a continent scourged by violence and hunger. The appeals came in the closing document of a monthlong congress of church leaders from Africa summoned by Pope John Paul II, a frequent observer at the bishops' deliberations until felled last week by a broken leg.