Islamic Official Says West Demonizes Islam

The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 4, 2005; 8:31 PM

STRASBOURG, France -- A top Islamic official on Tuesday criticized the West for what he called "demonizing" Islam following the Sept. 11 attacks, warning against attributing individual crimes to an entire religion.

Even though the attacks were condemned by Muslims, "the majority in the West ... never paused for one second to look back and ask since when an act of individuals could be the reason to condemn one fifth of humanity," said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim group.

Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog, Ihsanoglu said Muslims have suffered from ethnic cleansing and massacres that have largely been ignored by the Western world.

"In recent years, war in Iraq without legitimacy gave one further jolt to the faith of Muslims in the efficacy of international order," Ihsanoglu said.

Speaking several hours after the European Union agreed to open membership talks with Muslim-oriented Turkey, Ihsanoglu said he believed the decision would lead to other Islamic states' following Turkey's example in improving human rights and democracy.

He also called on European countries to give Islam the same official recognition as is given to mainstream European religions.

© 2005 The Associated Press