"The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers, " Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.

German chancellor Angela Merkel defended the pope yesterday against allegations that he had attacked Islam as worldwide Muslim fury continued over a speech he made earlier this week. Merkel told the Bild newspaper in an interview that the German-born pontiff had been calling for dialogue with other religions.

In a speech on Tuesday during a visit to Germany, the pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence. But Merkel said his comments had been misinterpreted. "Whoever criticises the pope misunderstood the aim of his speech, " Merkel was quoted as saying. "It was an invitation to dialogue between religions and the pope expressedly spoke in favour of this dialoguef What Benedict XVI emphasised was a decisive and uncompromising renunciation of all forms of violence in the name of religion."

Muslims around the world have deplored the Catholic leader's remarks. "He should apologise to Muslims, " the president of the German Council of Muslims, Ayyub Axel Koehler, told the Neue Presse newspaper yesterday.

"That would be a contribution towards unwinding the tension and creating clarity."

Muslim figures elsewhere also continued to assail the pope's comments. "How can (the pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said.

"Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq? The pope's statements are an attempt to put a religious cover on injustice and political aggression practised by the American administration against Muslims."

Turkey's nationalist paper Vatan quoted Salih Kapusuz, head of the ruling Justice and Development Party's parliamentary group, as saying Benedict's comments stemmed from "a deplorable ignorance that show he does not know the facts about Islam".