June 5, 2007
Source: Dawn
http://www.dawn.com/2007/06/05/int7.htm
LONDON, June 4: The two-day interfaith conference on ‘Islam and Muslims in the World Today’ began here on Monday with Prime Minister Tony Blair emphatically declaring that the voices of extremism are no more representative of Islam than the use, in times gone by, of torture to force conversion to Christianity, represented the true teachings of Christ.
He said Islam was not a monolithic faith, but one made up of a rich pattern of diversity, albeit all flowing from the same fount. This rich diversity needs to be more clearly appreciated and to inform our public debates more fully is something that this conference needs to debate.