By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, April 11 (Reuters) - Pope Leo https://www.reuters.com/world/pope/ on Saturday urged world leaders to end what he called the "madness of war," in an impassioned appeal as senior U.S. and Iranian officials met in Pakistan nL1N40U01A to discuss ending the six-week conflict.

At a special prayer vigil in St. Peter's Basilica, the first U.S. pope decried the use of religious language to justify war and said a "delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us ... is becoming increasingly unpredictable".

Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers on Saturday while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".

In one of his most passionate entreaties yet to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, the American pope said faith was needed "in order to face this dramatic hour in history together".

Police in London said they had arrested more 200 pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital's Trafalgar Square.

The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.

Smoke from an Israeli strike still lingered in the air as a plane from Lebanon's national carrier took off from Beirut airport, which has stayed open despite the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The country's only international passenger facility, whose departure boards are now largely red with cancellations, is located on the Mediterranean coast at the edge of Beirut's southern suburbs.

They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.

But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.

Even the lattes had a tagline: "Brewed for Peace."

Two US Navy warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing Iranian-laid mines, US Central Command said Saturday -- a claim Tehran denied as the Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal "severely" with military vessels crossing the strategic waterway.

The announcement of the first such transit since the US-Israeli war with Iran began came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started "clearing out" the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes.

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States military has started to clear the Strait of Hormuz nL1N40T08R, and that all of Iran's minelaying ships have been sunk.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote in a social media post, adding that "all 28" of Iran's "mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea".

By Mubasher Bukhari

ISLAMABAD, April 11 (Reuters) - The luxury five-star Serena Hotel in Pakistan's capital has become theunlikely venue for peace talks aimed at ending the Iran war https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/, cementing its status as one of Islamabad'smost heavily fortified buildings.

The city is under unprecedented security ahead of the talks, with shops and offices shut for two days ahead of the arrival of U.S. Vice President JD Vance nL1N40T02F, who is leading the American delegation, and senior Iranian officials.

CAIRO, April 11 (Reuters) - An airstrike hit a police checkpoint in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip early on Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring several others, medics said.

It was not immediately clear whether all those killed were police members. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

A series of Israeli strikes has killed dozens of Hamas-led police force members since October, according to medics and police sources.

PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that he had discussed the Iran ceasefire https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/ talks and the situation in Ukraine https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-russia-war/ with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.