By ANTARA News/AFP
Dakar : The world’s Muslim countries warned Thursday that an “alarming” rise in anti-Islamic insults and attacks in the West has become a threat to international security.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on Europe and America to take stronger measures against ‘Islamophobia’ in a report prepared for a summit of the group’s 57 members in Dakar on Thursday and Friday.
The report by a special OCI monitoring group said the organisation 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 September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States, would make Muslims more radical.
OIC leaders have expressed renewed concern following events such as the publication in Denmark of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed and a plan by the Dutch far-right wing MP Geert Wilders to release a film calling the Koran holy book “fascist”.
The OCI report said Islam had faced attacks since it was created “but in recent years the phenomenon has assumed alarming proportions and has become a major cause of concern for the Muslim world.”
The monitoring group called on Europe and North America to do more, through laws and social action, to protect Muslims from threats and discrimination and prevent insults against Islam’s religious symbols.