Lahore, Sept 23 (ZEENEWS.COM) Pakistani clerics and religious scholars urged Muslims to hold peaceful rallies across the country on Friday to condemn the Pope's remarks on Islam, a spokesman for a radical Islamic group said.

The appeal for "nationwide peaceful protests" after the main weekly prayer services was made on Thursday when 1,000 clerics and religious leaders met in the city, said Abdullah Muntazir, a spokesman for the Jamaat al-Dawat group.

The meeting called for Pope Benedict XVI to be replaced by someone like the previous Pope John Paul II, who died last year.

After Thursday's meeting, a statement demanded the West "change its stance regarding Islam (or) it will face severe consequences." It did not elaborate.

It also said that jihad was not terrorism and that "Islam was not propagated with the sword."