MADRID, Dec 27: Spanish Muslims said that they had appealed to the Pope to be allowed to prostrate themselves in worship in Cordoba Cathedral, which was built as a mosque during Spain's centuries of Islamic rule.

In a letter to Pope Benedict, Spain's Islamic Board said senior Spanish Catholic clergy had rejected requests for Muslims to be allowed to prostrate themselves inside the Cathedral, which was converted into a church in the 13th century.

“What we wanted was not to take over that holy place, but to create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical space unique in the world which would have been of great significance in bringing peace to humanity,” the letter said.No one at Spain's Catholic Bishops Conference was immediately available for comment, but earlier in December it issued a news release stating it “did not recommend” Muslims prayed in the Cathedral.

In the communique, quoted by newspaper ABC, it added that it was not prepared to negotiate the building's shared use with other faiths.

SECURITY GUARDS: Security guards often stop Muslim worshippers from praying inside the old Mosque, said the board's general secretary, Mansur Escudero, who complained elements of the Roman Catholic Church felt threatened by Spain's growing Muslim population.