PM: Muslims Fear Christians are Waging "War Against Islam" Worldwide

August 3, 2004

Source: Free New Mexican

Wire Service: AP

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/2588.html

On August 3, 2004 the Associated Press reported, "Muslims worldwide fear Christians are waging a 'war against Islam,' Malaysia's leader said Tuesday, blaming the campaign against terror on increased tensions between the religions. In an emotional speech to the World Council of Churches, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the events that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, including the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, 'have all taken religious undertones.' 'In the eyes of many Muslims, events in the last three years seem to lend credence to the view that the Christian West is, once again, at war with the Muslim world,' Abdullah told representatives from Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches. It was the first time that a prime minister in this moderate, predominantly Muslim country _ which chairs the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference _ was addressing an exclusively Christian audience, Malaysian officials said. Abdullah begged Christians and Muslims to 'work together for the sake of peace and justice.'"