Pope apologises for Islam remarks

Pope Benedict has said he is sorry for offending Muslims in a speech this week in which he implicitly linked Islam and violence.

The Vatican issued a statement on Saturday saying the pope hoped Muslims would understand the “true sense” of his words.

The statement, issued by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said the pope was “extremely upset” that parts of his speech “were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers”.

Bertone added that the comments, which led to protests across the globe, had been interpreted in a way “that does not at all correspond to his intentions”.

“The pope is unequivocally in favour of dialogue between religions and cultures,” he said.

Apology rejected

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, however, said the pope’s apology did not go far enough.

“We want a personal apology [from the pope]. We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology,” Mohammed Habib, the deputy leader of the organisation, said.

“Has he presented a personal apology for statements by which he clearly is convinced? No,” he said.

On Saturday Morocco also recalled its ambassador to the Vatican following the pope’s “offensive remarks”.

The pope made remarks in a speech on Tuesday at a German university, in which he quoted from a medieval text which said “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”.

The comments sparked angry protests from the Muslim community.

Demonstrations against the pope were witnessed in the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, India, Egypt and elsewhere.

On Friday thousands marched in the Gaza Strip on Friday waving the green flags of Hamas and chanting praises to “God and his prophet”.

Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, criticised the pope’s comments, saying: “These remarks go against the truth and touch the heart of our faith”.

Two churches in the West Bank and several Christian institutions in Gaza were bombed, causing damage but no casualties.

‘Revenge’ calls

Leading politicians and several prominent Christian and Muslim leaders also criticised the remarks.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, called on Saturday for the pope to apologise for his “unfortunate, ugly” remarks on Islam.

The Iraqi government has also called for calm after a church in Basra was reportedly attacked.

Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin, a hardline cleric linked to Somalia’s powerful Islamist group the Islamic Courts Group, called for Muslims to hunt down and kill the pope for his remarks.

“We call on all Islamic communities across the world to take revenge on the baseless critic called the pope,” he was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Agencies