Muslims condemn Mumbai attacks, worry about image

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Muslims from the Middle East to Britain and Austria condemned the Mumbai shooting rampage by suspected Islamic militants as senseless terrorism, but also found themselves on the defensive once again about bloodshed linked to their religion.

Intellectuals and community leaders called for greater efforts to combat religious fanaticism.

Many Muslims said they are worried such carnage is besmirching their religion.

"The occupation of the synagogue and killing people in hotels tarnishes the Muslim faith," said Kazim al-Muqdadi, a political science lecturer at Baghdad University. "Anyone who slaughters people and screams 'Allahu Akbar' [God is Great] is sick and ignorant."

In Britain, home to nearly 2 million Muslims, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, Inayat Bunglawala, said "a handful of terrorists like this bring the entire faith into disrepute."

A previously unknown Muslim group, Deccan Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The name suggests Indian origins.

Pakistan has denied involvement and demanding that India provide proof. In Pakistan, Jamaat-ud Dawa, an Islamist group believed to have ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba, denounced the killing of civilians.

In Islamic extremist Web forums, some praised the Mumbai attacks, including the targeting of Jews. A man identified as Sheik Youssef al-Ayeri said the killings are in line with Islam.

"It's all right for Muslims to set the infidels' castles on fire, drown them with water . . . and take some of them as prisoners, whether young or old, women or men, because it is one of many ways to beat them," he wrote in the al-Fallujah forum. *