Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today (June 1, 2004) called on Western countries to help resolve political conflicts involving Muslims such as Palestine and Kashmir.

He also said Islamic countries should grapple with terrorism, which causes "more loss of life within the Muslim world".

"All political conflicts like Palestine, Kashmir and Iraq involve Muslims. This has created a perception in the Muslim minds that they were being targeted by the West because of their religion," he said inaugurating a two-day international seminar on Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Islamabad.

Many Muslims believe that West is making deliberate attempt to project Islam as a religion of terrorism and barbarism, he told the seminar "OIC Challenge and Response - Enlightened Moderation."

"This has created deep mistrust in the Muslim world," he said.

He also lashed out at Islamic extremists. "The sufferings of Muslims at the hands of militants, extremists and terrorists are increasing every day. The devastating power of plastic explosive combined with remote control activation and suicide bombing becomes a lethal combination beyond any effective counter," he said.

Both the perpetrators of the crimes as well as the sufferers are Muslims, he noted.