16th October 2002

Mr Charles Moore
Daily Telegraph
Telegraph Group Limited
1 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 DT

Dear Mr Moore,

I read the main leader column in the Daily Telegraph on 14th October 2002 and found the following opening paragraph to be of some concern: "Will Saturday's atrocity in Bali, which has already cost at least 182 lives, finally prompt the Indonesian government to take decisive action against the country's burgeoning Islamist movement?" The Daily Telegraph has not taken the time to define here what it means by an "Islamist movement". As you know there are a very wide spectrum of groups in the Muslim world ranging from those who concentrate on cultivating inner piety and are totally apolitical to those who view Islam as a comprehensive way of life but seek change through peaceful and democratic means via the ballot box, to those who reject the gradualist method and insist on violent insurgency to overthrow 'unislamic regimes'.

Your leader column seems to have made no attempt to distinguish between the large variety of Islamic movements and therefore, I believe, hinders rather than helps, the understanding of the awful phenomenon of mass terrorism. The Muslim Council of Britain has repeatedly called for building bridges between the West and the Muslim world to increase understanding and dispel common misconceptions. We hope that through your pages in the Daily Telegraph we can continue to pursue this most urgent task.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Inayat Bunglawala
Secretary ,
Media Committee ,
The Muslim Council of Britain