Pope Francis calls for 'peace above all' in Iraq, Syria in his Easter message

In his Easter "Urbi et Orbi" message, Pope Francis has called for "peace" above all in Syria and Iraq.

He told crowds in St Peter's Square that the "roar of arms" in these countries should cease and that peaceful relations be established among the various groups that constitute these "beloved countries," reported the BBC.

He prayed for the students killed in Kenya's Garissa university college attack and said that more action was needed to put an end to what he said was a "humanitarian tragedy" in Syria and Iraq.

While calling for peace in Libya, the pope said, "absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence" in the country should come to an end.

Meanwhile, three days of national mourning is being observed in Kenya in the aftermath of the gun attack that left nearly 150 people, many of them Christians, dead last week.