ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's Parliament Friday called on Pope Benedict XVI to retract his controversial remarks linking Islam with violence, while the Foreign Office accused him of "ignorance".

The overwhelmingly Muslim country's national assembly unanimously passed a resolution proposed by a legislator from an alliance of hardline Islamic parties, officials said.

"This House demands that the Pope should retract his remarks in the interest of harmony between religions," said the resolution, a copy of which was read to AFP by a parliamentary official. "The derogatory remarks of the Pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Mohammed have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions."

Benedict provoked an outcry with comments on Tuesday in a theological lecture in which he implicitly denounced connections between Islam and violence, particularly with regard to jihad, or "holy war".

The pope's official spokesman later issued a response, saying that Benedict respected Islam but rejected violence motivated by religion.

Muslim leaders in several countries strongly criticized his remarks but the Pakistani Parliament is the first to issue such a condemnation.

The Pakistani Foreign Office also waded into the row, saying that the Roman Catholic leader's comments would undermine international efforts for peace between religions.

"Anyone who says that there is anything inherently evil or inhuman about Islam only shows his own ignorance of this great religion," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told AFP. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Benedict's remarks were "regrettable."

"They widen the gulf between religions that we are working so hard to bridge," Aslam said.

"It also shows ignorance of history. It was certainly not Muslims who persecuted the followers of other religions," she said, adding that Islam was the most tolerant religion.