The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned recent attacks on religious groups in various countries and urged an end to discrimination against minorities.

"Violence ... has no place in Islamic teaching", says a leading Muslim scholar in an extended religiously-based argument directed at those who justify terror in the name of faith.

As he heads to what could be a sea of controversy in Israel-Palestine, Pope Benedict XVI's Middle East trip has been marked by a strong message of reconciliation and affirmation of hard-pressed historic Christian communities in the region.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh observed that "Christianity is part of our national heritage" when general secretary of the World Council of Churches Dr Samuel Kobia called on him on at his residence in New Delhi.