Charles' religion plea

May 5, 2006, 15:13 GMT

Britain's Prince Charles has unveiled a Bedouin tent in London - in a bid to unite religions around the world.

The goat-hair structure - built in Saudi Arabia and situated on an IRA terror attack site in London's Bishopsgate- is set to become the centre of peace and reconciliation.

The prince - who officially opened the site in 2002 - gave an intimate welcome to the representatives of nine religions, who had gathered for the opening of the tent this week.

The guests sat in a circle inside the structure as the royal begged for understanding between different faiths as they were all trying to 'explain the nature of mystery'.

He said: 'We are all trying to explain the nature of mystery and in a sense it is almost impossible to explain.

'If only we could understand each other's gropings to understand the mystery, not try to overdo the way in which we decide that we know everything, we might perhaps reduce the level of conflict and violence and misunderstanding.'

The tent - designed as a 16-sided structure - is carpeted with rugs woven in conflict zones around the world.

Professor Keith Critchlow - who designed the landmark - explained the symbolical meaning behind his design.

He said: 'These symbols do matter and it has always seemed to me that in many ways we are losing our understanding of the symbolic nature of faith.

'By taking things sometimes too literally there is a danger of ever greater extremism and fundamentalism.'

The event - which was attended by two Middle Eastern royal households - attracted worldwide support.

Charles received a host of messages, including some from former US president Bill Clinton, U2's Bono and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International