Arab world: Christians in the Holy Land yesterday attended services of mourning for Pope John Paul II in churches in Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ, Nazareth, the Galilee town where he grew up, and Jerusalem where he was crucified.
The senior Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, Grand Mufti Ikrima Sabri, called his death "a loss for the world, the Catholic church, peace and freedom lovers". The mufti, who met the Pope during his visit to the Holy City in 2000, was amongst the many Muslim clerics who praised the Pope's efforts to bridge the gulf between Muslims and Christians and expressed gratitude for his apology for the Christian Crusades against Islam.
Palestinians recalled that during his address to pilgrims in Galilee commemorating Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Pope said: "Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: "We have lost a very important religious fighter who dedicated his life to peace and justice for all, as well as our people's right to independence."
Prime minister Ahmad Korei said: "He always adopted positive and just positions towards the rights of the Palestinian people."
In Cairo, Ali Samman, an adviser to the rector of the authoritative Azhar University, Shaikh Muhammad Tantawi, said that Pope John Paul's "role was vital . . . in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims". In 2001 the Pope became the first pontiff to enter a Muslim place of worship when he visited the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus in 2001 where he prayed at the tomb of St John the Baptist.