As controversy surrounds the Pope's shoes in a mosque in Amman, a Vatican spokesman insists that it would be "absolutely wrong to make a problem" out of the issue.

The controversy was sparked when Pope Benedict XVI kept on his shoes during a keynote address to Muslim leaders in a Jordan mosque.

However, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope meant no disrespect to Islam when he entered the Al-Hussein mosque.

"Benedict XVI was ready to take them off but his escorts led him down a special walkway and did not ask him to do so," the spokesman said.

The controversy aroused at a time when the pontiff is seeking to mend fences with the Muslim world during his Middle East tour.

BS/MMN