The war in Iraq has highlighted the "urgent need" for different nations and faiths to listen to each other, the Archbishop of Canterbury told a conference in Qatar yesterday.
In a deliberately low-key address, which included only passing references to the nearby conflict, Dr Rowan Williams said that improved relations between Christians and Muslims could help a "deeply troubled world".
"We are here to discover more about how each community believes it must listen to God, conscious of how very differently we identify and speak of God's revelation," he told participants in the seminar.
"Listening to God and listening to one another as nations, cultures and faiths have not always had the priority they desperately need. So this space for reflection is all the more important; it is both a symbol and an example of this kind of engagement."
The three-day seminar in Doha is being attended by more than 30 Christian and Islamic leaders and scholars.