EGYPT: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood says Pope Benedict's apology on Sunday for remarks on Islam is sufficient.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday (September 17) that Pope Benedict's apology earlier int the day for remarks on deemed insulting to Islam by many Muslims was sufficient. The Pope said he was "deeply sorry" at the anger caused by his remarks on Islam and said a quote he used from a medieval text about holy wars did not reflect his personal thoughts. The Pope had referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus. The emperor said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". A statement made through the Vatican by the Pope on Saturday apologizing for causing offense to Muslims but not retracting the statement in question was rejected as insufficient by many Muslim leaders. Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's envoy to Cairo on Saturday to express Egypt's "extreme regret" at the speech and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood also rejected the earlier apology. Speaking at his office at the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo, the deputy leader of the officially banned but nevertheless highly influential opposition group, said the apology by the Pope was sufficient. "I want to stress that the remarks that came from the Pope today is a retreat from what he said in his lecture on Tuesday in Germany and this is a good step towards an apology. Despite that it was not a clear apology towards Islam and the Muslim people." The Pope, leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, made his Sunday apology during his regular Sunday blessing -- known as the Angelus -- at his summer residence Castelgandolfo, an occasion often used to express the church's views on current affair. In Iran, theological schools closed on Sunday in protest at the Pope and Etemad-e Melli newspaper said senior clerics demanded an immediate apology. The English-language Tehran Times called his remarks "code words for the start of a new crusade". Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican on Saturday, calling the Pope's remarks "offensive". The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the country's main Shi'ite political parties, also called for the Pope to apologize "clearly and honestly" for his comments. Eight churches, some Catholic, in the West Bank and Gaza have been attacked since Friday, as well as one in Iraq, causing minor damage. The backlash over the Pope's comments had cast doubt on his planned visit to Turkey in November, with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim with roots in political Islam, calling the Pope's comments "ugly and unfortunate". Earlier today in Egypt Students at Egypt's Al-Azhar university today held a silent protest against statements by the Pope. Around two hundred university students marched in inside the university grounds holding up signs condemning statements by the Pope on Tuesday that have caused outrage across the Muslim world and led to protests in numerous countries.

ITN Source | September 17, 2006

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