Saudi newspaper commentaries suggested the king’s motives were addressing militant violence inside Muslim countries and tension between Muslims and the authorities
in Europe.
"The dialogue could clear up some facts about our religion, far from the distortions that extremists and fanatics have caused," wrote Saudi daily newspaper Al Jazirah, referring to militant violence in Saudi Arabia and the region.
"All Islamic societies should become involved in this great religious act whose intent is to create communication between the believers of the three monotheistic religions," it said.
Saudi Arabia has faced a violent campaign since 2003 by Al Qaeda militants who question the royal family’s legitimacy because of their close alliance with the United States and has watched with alarm as militant activity in the region continues.
But commentators said they found it hard to imagine a major interfaith summit featuring senior figures held in Saudi Arabia, at least anytime in the near future.
They cited the nature of Islam as promoted in Saudi Arabia, where some clerics once openly supported Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Mecca and Medina are barred to non-Muslims and the Vatican has complained that Christians cannot build churches.
"It’s not for listeners to take these things too seriously, but it’s a good sign," said preacher Mohsen Al Awajy, a Wahhabi moderate who maintains links with conservatives and reformers.
"The message of tolerance is everyone’s message, whether it’s serious or not," he said.
Several Christian and Jewish leaders abroad welcomed the king’s comments and expressed interest in talks. His proposal is independent of a Christian-Muslim dialogue recently launched by Muslim scholars known as the "Common Word" initiative.
Saudi Arabia is home to Islam’s holiest sites and considers itself the leader of mainstream Sunni Islam. But its powerful religious establishment enforces a harsh Islam alien to many of the world’s Muslims because of practices such as imposed gender segregation in public and death sentences by public beheading.
In a vote highlighting its distance from other Muslims, the Shura Council, a quasi-parliamentary body, has refused to back efforts by many Islamic countries to have the United Nations draw up a global pact on respecting religions and their symbols.
Such a pact, which other Muslim states seek in response to controversial Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) caricatures and works critical of Islam, would require that Saudi Arabia recognises other faiths it considers mere idol-worshipping, Council members argued.
