Fearing backlash, Clinton reassures Muslims in US

8220;There are a billion and a half Muslims in the world. They are many nationalities and live in virtually every corner of every continent. How can anyone apply a stereotype to a quarter of the globe8217;s people?8221; Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said this week.

Albright received members of the American Islamic community at the State Department on Tuesday where she hosted an Iftar dinner. It was only the second such dinner that Albright has hosted 8212; the first being last year at a meeting betweenthe secretary and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Six million of the 260 million people living in the United States are Muslims. Albright sought to reassure the community that they would be neither persecuted nor ignored by US officials and urged more Muslims to enter public service, particularly as diplomats. 8220;We are recruiting hard, but women and minorities, including Muslims, remain under-represented,8221; she said. 8220;We want and need to do better.8221;

State Department officials insist that Albright8217;s Iftaar was not solely related to concerns about a backlash against Muslim-Americans from the terrorist fears, noting that discussions at the meal included Iraq, Chechnya and the West Asia peace process. 8220;It was not tied to any other event that8217;s going on, it was part of her policy of explaining American foreign policy to the American people,8221; said one official who bristled at suggestions that recent warnings about terrorism might be construed to link Muslims and criminal activity.

8220;Nobody shouldsuppose that there is any relation in our consideration, in our planning, our views, in our assessments 8230; between Islam and terrorism.8221;

Officials have been keen to indicate that the two anti-terrorism alerts issued in recent days by the department have been 8220;worldwide8221;, made no mention of any particular country.

They also note that bin Laden, accused of masterminding last year8217;s bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, has no monopoly on terrorism.

The Muslim community itself however is concerned about the possible results of a psychological link between their religion and terrorism 8220;We hope there is a balance between what is necessary for security and not going into a witch-hunt,8221; said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In New York, a local Islamic association released a statement in an effort to prevent a backlash against their community. 8220;We wish to unequivocally condemn all types of terrorism whether home-made or foreign-made,8221;the Islamic Centre of Long Island stated.

8220;We caution the authorities and the media to be very, very careful in making clear distinctions between Islam, the religion of peace and between the violent behavior of individuals who might have Arabic/Muslim names,8221; it said.