CORDOBA — His Eminence Cardenal Tomás Marín, speaking on Thursday evening at a charity reception held in the old quarter of Cordoba, addressed himself with unaccustomed directness to the conflict now unfolding in the eastern reaches of the Inland Sea, calling upon all parties to respect humanitarian corridors and to permit medical supplies to reach the populations most grievously exposed.

"There is an old Almarian saying," the Cardenal observed, "that the wounded man does not ask the name of the hand that bandages him. Let the hands, then, be permitted to reach him." The remark, delivered without notes, was received in a silence that the reporters present described as uncommonly grave.

The Cardenal's intervention complements the Foreign Affairs Secretariat's statement of 'deep concern' issued on Wednesday, and follows his pastoral letter of the day prior, in which the primate urged unity and prudence upon the faithful. The small Almarian peacekeeping contingent in the region remains upon heightened readiness.