Stop 'demonizing' Muslims: Islam chief

The world's top diplomat for Islam called on Friday for an end to efforts to equate the religion with terrorism and said the 'demonization' of Muslims around the world must be fought.

But speaking soon after the U.N. General Assembly passed an Islamic-sponsored resolution condemning "defamation of religion" for the fourth year in a row, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said his group was committed to respecting freedom of expression.

There was a "rising tide of incitement to religious hatred and discrimination and intolerance targeting Muslims," he told a meeting called by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) at the United Nations in Geneva.

The 57-nation OIC, based in Saudi Arabia, represents 1.5 billion Muslims.

"Attempts to equate Islam with terrorism should be stopped. Stereotyping and demonization of Muslims should be combated," said Ihsanoglu, a Turkish history professor who became OIC Secretary-General in 2005.

Attempts to equate Islam with terrorism should be stopped. Stereotyping and demonization of Muslims should be combated

Head of the OIC

Freedom of speech

In a statement on Ihsanoglu's remarks, Geneva spokesman for the International Humanist and Ethical Union Roy Brown argued that Islam was often linked to terror because perpetrators of many terrorist acts identify themselves as Muslims.

Critics of the OIC -- including countries who voted against the "defamation" motion at U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday -- say many Islamic states use defamation or "blasphemy" laws against minorities and free-thinkers.

Referring to the U.N. vote, in which for the first time since the OIC introduced a "defamation" motion in 2005 more countries voted against or abstained than voted for, Ihsanoglu said the motives of the Islamic grouping were misunderstood.

The aim of the OIC, he declared, "is not to protect religion against critics based on objective and rational interrogation". The body, he added, "is firmly committed to respect for freedom of expression, which is a fundamental human right."

(OIC) is not to protect religion against critics based on objective and rational interrogation...(it) is firmly committed to respect for freedom of expression, which is a fundamental human right

Ihsanoglu

Mosque arson attack

Meanwhile in other news about Islamophobia a mosque in the southeast city of Lyon was slightly damaged by fire early Saturday in an attack which the French interior ministry in Paris said was arson.

The fire broke out at the entrance to the mosque but did not spread and the only damage to the interior was caused by smoke, police said.

In Paris the ministry said Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie had written to the president of the French council of Muslims, professor Mohammed Moussaoui, to convey his concern at the arson attack on the mosque, in a suburb of Lyon.

The ministry added that police forensics experts were doing everything possible to "find who was responsible for this intolerable and cowardly attack as soon as possible."