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‘Islamophobia’ threatens world security, Muslim countries say |
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By Agence-France Presse
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DAKAR — Sada Cumber, the Pakistani-American tasked with improving the image of the United States to Muslims, says he sees a new more moderate leadership in the Islamic world that will make his tough mission easier.
The technology tycoon who swapped Karachi for Texas 31 years ago, also told AFP in an interview that many major religions face the same kind of “bigotry” as Muslims who have launched a campaign against ‘Islamophobia’.
The widely-debated “clash of civilizations” is really a “clash of ignorance”, said Cumber, who became the first U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference and launched his campaign at the 57-nation group’s summit in Dakar on March 13-14.
Cumber said he would report to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the OIC is changing.
“I think we need to learn more about each other, and the way things are going on in this conference, I can almost see the new leadership moving into moderation, and that alone is very encouraging news.”
The world’s Muslim countries warned that an “alarming” rise in anti-Islamic insults and attacks in the West has become a threat to international security.
A report prepared for the summit by a special OIC monitoring group said the organization was struggling to get the West to understand that Islamophobia “has dangerous implications on global peace and security” and to convince western powers to do more.
Islamic leaders have long warned that perceptions linking Muslims to terrorism, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, would make Muslims more radical.
The West must understand that “the war against terror cannot be successful without the support of Muslim countries,” the report said.
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