Christmas hopes for Middle East

In the West Bank town revered as the humble birthplace of Jesus Christ, a top Palestinian leader was able to attend the traditional midnight mass for the first time in four years.

Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem told a melting pot congregation of Christians and Muslims -- including PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas, who is tipped to replace the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- that it was time to bring all walls tumbling down, including Israel's hated security barrier.

"We pray that all walls fall down, those around Bethlehem and the other Palestinian towns, and the walls of hatred in our hearts," he said.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, troops from the United States and other nations were celebrating Christmas during bloody counter-insurgency operations.

Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was also expected to focus on conflict situations when she delivered her annual Christmas message to her people later on Saturday.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, some 180,000 police officers were deployed after Australia, Britain and the United States warned that militants were again planning to strike there over the Christmas period. Last year, a string of attacks on churches on Christmas Eve killed 19 people.

Thousands of worshippers defied the security fears and incessant rain to attend mass at Jakarta's cathedral, where Cardinal Julius Darmaatmaja railed against destruction of the environment and the impunity of rampant corruption. Human dignity, he said, was being "soiled by acts of violence and discrimination."

In another major Muslim country, Pakistan, Christians ignored the threat of violence to attend services at heavily guarded churches. President Pervez Musharraf, in a Christmas Day message, said there was "an urgent need in the world today, more than ever, for removing distrust and misunderstanding among the followers of different religions."