The Church of England and the Muslim Council of Britain briefly traded rhetoric over Islamic extremists, according to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
The right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, one of the Church's most senior bishops, said he fears Islamic extremists are creating "no-go areas" across Britain for non-Muslims.
"There has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism," which might further alienate the young from the nation, the Bishop of Rochester was quoted as saying.
In response, Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the bishop of "scare mongering."
"Bishop Nazir-Ali appears to be exercised by what he perceives as the decline in the influence of Christianity upon this country, but trying to frantically scaremonger about Islam and Muslims seems to us to be a rather unethical way of trying to reverse this," he said.
The rhetoric was the latest in tensions gripping a multi-religious society despite efforts by Britain to involve the country's 1.5 million Muslims in the fight against extremism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
In September 2006, Britain's then Home Secretary John Reid warned Muslims of their children being "brainwashed" by Islamist extremists, but sparked protests against crackdowns on Muslims since a multiple terrorist attack in London in July 2005 which left 56 people dead.
Source:Xinhua
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