Vatican says Pope did not mean to offend Islam

VATICAN CITY, Sep 14 (Reuters) The Vatican, speaking after some Muslim leaders attacked Pope Benedict over a speech about ''holy wars'', said today the pontiff had no intention of offending Islam.

''It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to carry out a in-depth study of jihad (holy war) and Muslim thinking about it, even less so to offend the sensitivity of the Muslim faithful,'' the Vatican press office said in a statement.

REUTERS LL BST2338