DUBAI - The Muslim world on Monday joined Christians in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, remembering his efforts to reconcile two of the world's great faiths and a man whose human values went beyond religion.
For once, it appeared differences on belief were put aside as Muslim thinkers across the world praised the late pontiff, who visited numerous Islamic countries and was the first pope in history to enter a mosque.
"The pope will go down in history as a man of peace and great reconciliations... He ushered in a new era in relations between the Muslim and Christian worlds, which makes it incumbent on his successor to keep up the dialogue," said Al-Watan, a Qatari newspaper.
Even in Saudi Arabia, where all religions other than Islam are banned, the leading daily Al-Riyadh headline read "the world mourns the pope" while "Arabs pay tribute to him for defending lofty values."
Ishaq Akintola, radical Nigerian Muslim and Lagos State University teacher in Islamic Studies said: "His death is very saddening. He belonged to the other religion (Christianity) but he had a soft heart for Muslims and people of other religions. He was a man who loved mankind regardless of his religion."
Some countries even showed their grief at a national level with Egypt observing three days of official mourning starting Monday and flags flying at half-mast across Jordan.
In Syria, officials announced that President Bashar al-Assad was likely to attend the pope's funeral in person as a mark of respect for his role in "establishing peace and justice in the world ... and (promoting) a dialogue between religions and civilisations."
During a visit to Syria in 2001, John Paul II became the first pope to visit a Muslim place of worship when he toured the Great Mosque of Damascus.
"The world will speak for a long time about the spiritual and human mission of Pope John Paul II," said Assad.
In all, John Paul visited five Middle East countries during his 26-year pontificate -- Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories, as well as Syria.
His championing of the rights of the Palestinian people and opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 earned plaudits from many Muslims.
"Arabs and Muslims will feel a big vacuum because Pope John Paul II adopted unforgettable stands on their causes, chiefly by strongly opposing the war against Iraq and objecting to the separation wall" built by Israel on the West Bank, wrote the Qatari daily Al-Raya.
Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque -- Sunni Islam's highest authority -- said John Paul's death was "a great loss for the Catholic Church and the Muslim world."
Sheikh Tantawi, who met the pontiff in 2001, "praised the pope's moderate stance and his support for Arab causes, whether in Palestine or Iraq".
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, himself as an advocate "dialogue of civilisations", heaped praise on John Paul, describing him as "a disciple of religious mysticism, philosophic deliberation and thought, and artistic and poetic creativity."
But hardliners were less complimentary, recalling that John Paul was also the first pope to enter a synagogue and oversaw a reconciliation effort with Jews as well as Muslims.
"Not only did the pope never condemn the crimes of the Zionist regime in the territories, the Vatican officially recognised its existence," the ultra-conservative Jomhuri Islami newspaper complained.
Despite the dissenting voices, there was nevertheless praise in the Islamic republic for the pope's attempt to build bridges with the Muslim.
"He tried to show the independent face of the Vatican, recovering Muslim public opinion lost through his rapprochement with the Jews," the right-wing daily Hamshahri wrote, recalling that John Paul was "the only Christian leader to have entered a mosque and kissed the Koran".

04/04/2005 13:16 GMT