Steven Spielberg "Munich is a Prayer for Peace"  12/6/05

Hollywood movie-maker Steven Spielberg is hopeful his forthcoming terrorist thriller Munich will become a "prayer for peace" to be shared by Palestinians and Israelis.

The Oscar-winner is recreating the infamous kidnapping of Israeli athletes by Palestinian extremists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

While Spielberg accepts the film is sure to stir up controversy, but hopes its gives the still warring peoples food for thought.

He explains, "I don't think any movie or any book or any work of art can solve the stalemate in the Middle East today. But it's worth a try.

"Somewhere inside all this intransigence there has to be a prayer for peace.

"The biggest enemy is not the Palestinians or the Israelis. The biggest enemy in the region is intransigence."