After the Tawaf - walking around the Kaaba, the cube-like structure at the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca - we will offer two rakaas or units of prayer, followed by drinking water from the holy Zam Zam spring.

BBC: Aerial view of Great Mosque at Mecca - file 2006

But the Pope's supporters will be hoping that by visiting Muslim holy sites - he was the first pontiff to go to the great compound of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem - he will have improved the overall tone of relations between the Catholic Church and some at least of Islam's believers.

BBC: Reflections on Pope's Holy Land tour

No doubt KSM and his followers at Guantanamo take great satisfaction in such high-profile support of the Ground Zero mosque and have exclaimed, "God is great!"

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: What would KSM say about the Ground Zero Mosque?

We don't get up every weekend and go to our church or synagogue or mosque or wherever else we might practice our beliefs and pay homage to the great tenets of the Republican Party, or the Democratic Party for that matter.

CNN: Commentary: Don't go to war over Sotomayor

The hotel building forms just part of part of the Abraj al-Bait complex, a Gotham City-like eruption of seven huge towers, conveniently sited a stone's throw from the Great Mosque.

ECONOMIST: A Saudi tower