"May the coming year be one in which the sanctity and dignity of human life is upheld by all," it added. "May it be a year of humble repentance before God and mutual forgiveness within and between communities."
PLANS FOR DIALOGUE
The conciliatory tone echoed that of the October appeal, which said Muslims and Christians should hold a serious dialogue on the basis of their shared commandments to love God and love one's neighbour.
The group, linked to an Islamic research institute headed by Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed bin Talal, wants a serious dialogue between Christian and Muslim theologians to help bridge a gulf in understanding between the religions.
It began in reaction to Pope Benedict's 2006 Regensburg lecture, taken to imply Islam was violent and irrational. The Muslims first corrected what they said was his misunderstanding of their faith and then proposed a dialogue with all Christian leaders.
Most Christian churches have responded positively. In an letter to the Vatican, Prince Ghazi has proposed sending a few Muslim scholars to Rome in February or March for initial talks with the world's largest Christian church.
The scholars also plan to meet Christian leaders at several conferences coming up next year to launch the long-term dialogue.
Some Catholic officials have expressed scepticism about the idea, saying differences between the two faiths were too great for any real dialogue, but Prince Ghazi urged them to seek agreement where they could for the sake of the common good.
"We, like you, also consider complete theological agreement between Christians and Muslims inherently not possible by definition, but still wish to seek and promote a common stance and cooperation based on what we do agree on," he wrote in the letter made available to Reuters.
