Pope, Abdullah, discuss religious cooperation

Pope Benedict yesterday received Jordan's King Abdullah, who called on all religions to play a part in combating terrorism.

The Pope met the monarch at the Pointiff's summer residence at Castelgandolfo, south of Rome. No official details were issued about what was discussed at the meeting, which was also attended by Queen Rania.

But the king wrote in Italy's Corriere della Sera yesterday that his meeting with Pope Benedict should be seen in the framework of Jordan's attempts to promote inter-religious dialogue in order to defeat extremists.

"For the past five years I have maintained that the global battle against terrorism cannot be fought with only military means," he wrote in Italy's leading newspaper. "It is also a moral, intellectual and social commitment," he wrote. "In order to defeat extremists, he has to reject their attempts to create a clash of culture."

The king called for "an honest and continuing" dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.

He said he wanted his talks with the Pope, who has been in office since April, to "bring forward a positive and respectful debate among our two faiths".

Last month in Germany, Pope Benedict said Muslim religious leaders had a duty to help defeat terrorism and turn back the "wave of cruel fanaticism" that falsely uses religion to instigate hate.

In that address, the most straightforward and forceful he has ever made on the topic, the Pope said the world would be exposed to "the darkness of a new barbarism" unless religions worked together to combat terrorism.