The BBC on Wednesday defended its use of the phrases terrorist and Islamic fundamentalist to describe Osama bin Laden, after complaints from Muslims that it could spark a racial backlash.
The moderate Muslim Council of Britain says Bin Laden, chief suspect for last week's suicide plane attacks in the United States, could be labeled a terrorist without reference to his faith.
"We will never accept the term Islamic terrorist. Islam does not permit such violence.
The BBC is planting the association in the minds of many people that ordinary peace-loving Islamic fundamentalists are no different to Bin Laden."
But a BBC spokesman insisted it was "appropriate" to describe Bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire, as an Islamic fundamentalist.
"We regularly make it clear in reports that he is a terrorist, not simply a follower of Islam, and that his brand of Islamicism is not shared by the vast majority of moderate Muslims in the UK and elsewhere."
He acknowledged that the corporation had received complaints, and said it had had discussions at senior level about the right terminology to use” -- LONDON (AFP)
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