The Pope to perform a special prayer at the Umayyad mosque

The Lebanese daily al-Safir said in its Saturday issue that there will be no joint Islamic prayer at the Umayyad mosque during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Syria in May, rather the Pope will perform a special prayer inside the mosque at the part reserved for " John the Baptist."

The paper added that among the Pope's requests ( still under study) is to stay one hour in the city of Aleppo upon leaving Syria.