BAMENDA: Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”, in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday days after US President Donald Trump attacked him on social media.

Leo, the first US pope, also decried leaders who used religious language to justify wars and urged a “decisive change of course” in a meeting in the biggest city in Cameroon’s anglophone regions, where a simmering conflict going back nearly a decade has left thousands dead.

“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” the pontiff said.

“They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”

‘A world turned upside down’

Trump’s attacks on Leo, first launched on the eve of the pope’s ambitious four-country tour of Africa ⁠and repeated late Tuesday, have caused dismay in Africa, where more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics live.

Leo, who kept a relatively low profile for most of his first year as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide, said on Thursday that she stood with the pope in his “courageous call for a kingdom of peace”.

Speaking in the anglophone city of Bamenda, the pontiff also sharply criticised leaders who invoked religious themes to justify wars.

“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” he said.

“It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience.”

The pope made similar remarks last month, saying God rejected prayers from leaders with “hands full of blood”, in comments widely interpreted as aimed at US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has invoked Christian language to justify the Iran war.

Trump began his criticism of Leo on Sunday, when he called the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a post on Truth Social.

The US president attacked Leo again on social media late on ⁠Tuesday. On Wednesday Trump posted an image of Jesus embracing Trump, after an earlier image he posted that portrayed him as a Jesus-like figure prompted widespread criticism.

Leo told Reuters on Monday that he would not stop speaking out about the Iran war and has avoided responding to Trump directly since then.

Three-day ceasefire during visit

After arriving in the Cameroon capital Yaounde on Wednesday, Leo urged the government of the Central African nation – led by President Paul Biya, at 93 the world’s oldest ruler – to root out corruption and resist “the whims of the rich and powerful”.

During a Mass at the airport in Bamenda on Thursday, attended by around 20,000 people, the pope criticised foreigners who exploited Africa’s wealth, saying they were contributing to ⁠widespread poverty and underdevelopment.

“The time has come, today and not tomorrow, now and not in the future, to restore the mosaic of unity by bringing together the diversity and riches of the country and the continent,” he said.

Leo’s trip on Thursday to Bamenda has stirred faint hope that steps might be taken to resolve the conflict there, rooted in the country’s complex colonial and post-colonial history.

Cameroon, a former German colony, was partitioned by Britain and France after World War One. The ⁠French part won independence in 1960 and was joined a year later by the smaller English-speaking British area to the west.

More than 6,500 people have been killed and more than half a million displaced in fighting between government forces and anglophone separatist groups, according to the International Crisis Group.

Priests are frequently kidnapped for ransom and some have been killed. Pope Leo heard on Thursday from Sister Carine Tangiri Mangu, who described being kidnapped ⁠and held hostage for three days last November, and Imam Mohamad Abubakar, who described how armed men “invaded” a mosque during prayers that same month, killing three people.

A separatist alliance said it would observe a three-day ceasefire to allow civilians and visitors to move freely during the pope’s visit.

Efforts to broker a peace deal have so far amounted to little, though Leo said he was heartened the crisis “has not degenerated into a religious war” and expressed hope that Christian and Muslim leaders could mediate an end to the fighting.

US President Donald Trump has said he could travel to Islamabad if a deal with Iran is signed there, signalling potential high-level involvement in ongoing negotiations mediated by Pakistan.

He added that if no agreement is reached with Iran, fighting will continue, and suggested the next round of talks could take place over the weekend.

On the ceasefire, Trump said progress was being made, adding that Iran is now willing to consider steps it had previously rejected. He also said he was not certain the ceasefire would need to be extended.

• EU welcomed Lebanon ceasefire announcement.
• Differences remain over nuclear programme: Iranian official. 
• Lebanon-Israel to begin ceasefire at 5pm EST: Trump 

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed on a 10-day ceasefire, as optimism grew that the Iran war may be nearing an end.

Trump said in a social media post that the ceasefire would start at 5pm eastern time (2100 GMT), aiming to halt a conflict between Israel and the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah that was reignited by the US-Israeli war against Iran.

He said he had held “excellent conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

“These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5pm EST,” he said. “Both sides want to see peace, and I believe that will happen, quickly!”

Trump said he had directed US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine to work with the two countries to achieve lasting peace.

The war with Iran spilt into Lebanon on March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon 15 months after the last major conflict.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the ceasefire announcement, saying on X: “This is a relief, as this conflict has already claimed far too many lives.”

Breakthrough on ‘sticky issue’ between US and Iran

Thousands of people have been killed, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, since US-Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28, triggering Iranian airstrikes on Iran’s Gulf neighbours and reigniting the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Soaring energy costs have rattled investors and policymakers globally since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply flows.

Closure of the strait has caused the worst oil price shock in history and forced the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to downgrade its outlook for the global economy, warning prolonged conflict could push the world to the brink of recession.

But hopes of a deal between Iran and the United States have been growing, with a two-week ceasefire in force.

A security source said a Pakistani mediator had made a breakthrough on “sticky issues”, although Tehran said the fate of its nuclear programme had not been resolved. Trump has said the accord would open the Strait of Hormuz.

Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, an important figure in mediation efforts, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to try to prevent a renewal of the conflict after talks in Islamabad that ended without a deal.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday the trip had led to greater hopes for a second round of talks and an extension of a two-week ceasefire, but said fundamental differences remain over its nuclear programme.

‘Locked and Loaded’

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said troops were poised to restart combat operations if a deal was not reached with Iran.

“We are reloading with more power than ever before, and better intelligence,” Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing. “We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation, and on your energy industry. We’d rather not have to do it.”

But a security source told Reuters a deal was closing in and that the US wants a breakthrough before the ceasefire expires next week. Washington is offering to lift sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, he said.

Iran will open the strait only if a permanent ceasefire is reached and there are United Nations guarantees that the US and Israel will not attack again in future, he said.

A separate government source said the talks would be held “soon” in Islamabad, although no date has been set.

Stock markets have rallied strongly in recent days on expectations of a swift resolution to the fighting, with global equities vaulting past their previous all-time highs in trading on Thursday. However, oil prices gained, showing continued uncertainty about the ceasefire prospects and the opening of the strait.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a sticking point at last weekend’s talks. The US proposed a 20-year suspension of all nuclear activity by Iran — an apparent concession from longstanding demands for a permanent ban. Tehran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.

Washington has pressed for any highly enriched uranium (HEU) to be removed from Iran. Tehran has demanded that international sanctions against it be lifted.

Two Iranian sources said there were signs of a compromise emerging on the HEU stockpile, with Tehran considering shipping part, but not all, of it out of the country, something it had previously ruled out.