Saudi king calls for dialogue among religions

Abdullah's contacts with Benedict are also significant. In his speech, he said he discussed the dialogue proposal with the pontiff at their Vatican meeting.

Benedict angered many Muslims with a 2006 speech in which he cited a medieval text that described some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly the command to spread the faith "by the sword." He later expressed regret that his remarks angered Muslims and stressed that the text didn't reflect his own opinion.

In an audiotape released last week, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden accused Benedict of playing a "large and lengthy role" in what he called a "new Crusade" against Islam. Bin Laden also warned of a "severe" reaction for Europe's publication of the Muhammad cartoons.

Saudi Arabia follows a severe interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism. It was not clear whether Abdullah's call will be followed by steps in the kingdom to relax the ban on public, non-Muslim worship as well as symbols from other religions, such as crosses and Bibles.

Muhammad al-Zulfa, a member of the Saudi Consultative Council said Abdullah's conciliatory was "a message to all extremists: Stop using religion."

Abdullah's framing of the dialogue in ethical terms may aim to reassure hard-line Muslim clerics that it would not involve any concessions.

Wariness among Muslim clerics
But some were already wary. Marwan Abu Ras, a lawmaker with the Palestinian Hamas militant group and chairman of the Palestinian Religious Scholars' Association, said the call for dialogue is advocated by Islam.

But, he said, "we are at a stage of obvious animosity with the Jews in Israel who usurp our lands and kill our children. Can I put forward clear points for a dialogue with them while they kill our sons, and their rabbis sanction killing our children? This is unimaginable under any circumstance."

Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli peace negotiator, said a Saudi-backed dialogue between Muslims and Jews "could be a balancing factor" against extremists but cannot replace diplomacy.

"I think that negotiations need to be negotiations and you don't mix religion into a diplomatic conflict, because then there is a danger of turning it into a religious war," he said.

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