Pope to Meet Muslim Leaders

The Pope is to meet the ambassadors of Muslims countries at the Vatican on Monday, a senior Vatican official has confirmed today.

The meeting will take place at Pope Benedict XVI's summer palace of Castel Gandolfo where a massive security force of 300 guards has been positioned to protect the Pope amid lingering Muslim anger.

The talks are a further effort by the Pontiff to calm tensions with Muslim communities around the world and he is expected to reiterate that his recent comments on Islam were misunderstood.

The announcement comes as Muslim leaders worldwide continue to demand an unequivocal apology from the Pope.

Meanwhile, Muslim ambassadors at the Vatican have welcomed the meeting.

"We welcome it and are definitely going to participate," said Iran's deputy ambassador to the Holy See, Ahmad Faihma.

"This is a positive signal from the Vatican. I know that this will improve relations with the Islamic world," the Iranian diplomat told Reuters.

"This meeting will be very important, especially in these days, to try to stop every action that is not good," said Fathi Abuabed, head of international relations at the Arab League's Vatican mission.

The Pontiff has expressed his regret over his comments three times since the speech last week Tuesday and world leaders including US President George W Bush as well as Christian leaders have stepped in to calm the crisis by reassuring Muslim quarters that the Pope's expressions of regret were sincere.

The leader of the one-billion strong Roman Catholic Church sparked anger among Muslims worldwide last week after quoting 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who spoke of the Prophet Mohammad's "command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".

An encouraging sign that the crisis is past its worst came when Muslim Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told U.S. television this week that since the Pope had expressed his regrets "there is no problem".