KWUAIT CITY, December 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - School texts have been rewritten to remove any reference that could be misinterpreted as promoting fanaticism, the Kuwaiti education minister said in comments published Saturday, December 27.

"Committees have completed their work (to revise text books). New books are being written, taking into account reviewing certain concepts ... because there are new changes like terrorism," Rasheed al-Hamad told Al-Rai Al-Aam paper.

"Our books should take into account ... that what we present of Qur'anic verses, Prophet's sayings, literature pieces and others should not make the young generation think in a fanatic way which leads them to take aggressive initiatives," he was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as telling the newspaper.

The minister stressed that books should not encourage "the young generation to hate other people and religions.

"If these aspects are present (in the current books) we must get rid of them," he said.

Although Hamad said Kuwaiti curricula do not call for terrorism or hating others, he insisted that they should be reviewed every now and then.

"Our curricula do not promote extremism, but certain youths may misunderstand things. We must review them to keep up with developments and avoid suspicious" materials, he said.

The minister denied that the change was a response to pressure from the United States or other external parties, but an internal reaction to developments.

However, the Kuwaiti minister admitted that the 9-11 attacks directly impacted the process of changing school text books in his country.

"The step is aimed at ensuring clarity and promoting the concepts of tolerance, respect of other opinions, religions and people," he said.

Kuwait hosts a large base for U.S. occupation forces and worked as a launch pad in the U.S.-British invasion of neighboring Iraq that began on March 20.

The charter was initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz, whose country faces claims by Washington that school syllabus shares the blame for turning up anti-American sentiments and instigating attacks against American targets.

Analysts said that many Arab and Islamic countries bowed to the U.S. pressures and changed their curricula.

In Indonesia, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is helping authorities crack down on religious schools, according to a press report released in July.

Some analysts believe that changing curricula would not water down anti-American sentiments, stemming from Washington's unbalanced policies in the region.