"We wanted him to clearly apologise," Sheikh Yusef Abu Hussein, mufti of the southern city of Karak, told AFP after the pope's address in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque.

"What the pope said (in 2006) about the Prophet Mohammed is untrue. Islam did not spread through the power of sword. It's a religion of tolerance and faith," Hussein said.

The pope had in 2006 quoted a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman."

The pontiff apologised at the time for the "unfortunate misunderstanding" but ahead of his visit to Jordan the kingdom's main opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, said the pope was not welcome unless he again apologised.

"What the pope said was not an apology," said Hammam Said, the overall leader of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood and University of Jordan professor.

"We want the apology to be clear just like the insults to Islam were clear. He should acknowledge his mistakes. That's our position and the position of all Jordanians."

The Brotherhood is represented in the lower house of parliament by its powerful political arm, the Islamic Action Front.

"We had hoped the pope would take into consideration the feelings of Muslims," said Sheikh Jamal Jumaah of the city of Madaba after the pope's speech in which he urged reconciliation between Christians and Muslims.

"He is a guest of the Muslims and we expected him to say one word. It's not too late. He can still apologise."

Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, Jordanian King Abdullah II's advisor on religious affairs who hosted the pontiff during his visit to the mosque, was more conciliatory.

"I would like to thank you for expressing regret over the lecture in 2006, which hurt the feelings of Muslims," Ghazi told the pope.

"We realise that the visit (to Jordan) comes as a goodwill gesture and a sign of mutual respect between Muslims and Christians."

The visit to Jordan is Benedict's first to an Arab state as pontiff and marks the first leg of an eight-day tour of the Holy Land that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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