The Pope publicly admonished President Bush today for the "deplorable" Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and called for a swift return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

The frail, 84-year-old pontiff, who suffers form Parkinson's disease, delivered his message to Mr Bush personally in English during a meeting at the Vatican.

The Pope also called for a renewed effort to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians and suggested that without an American commitment to "shared human values" the War on Terror would be lost.

He told Mr Bush that his visit to Europe comes "at a moment of great concern for the continuing situation of grave unrest in the Middle East, both in Iraq and the Holy Land.

"It is the evident desire of everyone that this situation now be normalised as quickly as possible with the active participation of the international community and in particular, the United Nations organisation, in order to ensure a speedy return of Iraq's sovereignty, in conditions of security for all its people."

The Pope has been one of the most outspoken critics of Mr Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

In his address, the pontiff made a thinly-veiled reference to the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US troops in Iraq.

"In the past few weeks other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civil and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values," he said.

He added that in the absence of such a commitment, "neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome".

The papal spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls did not dispute that the comments referred to the torture scandal.

The pontiff did however reserve some praise for Bush Administration's efforts to tackle poverty and disease in Africa and to promote "moral values" in America.

The Pope said: "I take this opportunity to acknowledge the great commitment of your Government and of your nation's numerous humanitarian agencies … to overcoming the increasingly intolerable conditions in various African countries where the suffering … can no longer be overlooked.