"You have to have mutual respect," said Livingstone.

LONDON, September 13, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has blamed US President George W. Bush's policies for creating a "clash of civilization" between Muslims and the West.

Livingstone told a meeting of the Trade Union Congress on Monday, September 12, that Bush and his "right-wing neo-con establishment" have triggered a "clash of civilization" between Muslims and the West, the BBC News Online reported.

The British official, a key figure in Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, has been a vocal opponent of British involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq .

Writing in the Guardian on August 4, Livingstone stressed that Britain must withdraw its troops from Iraq in order to prevent further terrorist attacks.

A report by the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs said the US-led invasion of Iraq has made Britain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Former US ambassador to the UN and a three-term senator from Missouri , John Danforth, has recently accused the Bush administration of playing into the hands of conservative Christians.

Vigilance

The Mayor of London warned that allowing certain ideas on "clash of civilizations" to grow in a society would help right-wing groups to exploit the situation, citing the far-right British National Party.

"Once they get to that point they remain a constant threat," he told a Unite Against Fascism meeting in Brighton .

Livingstone called for more vigilance against a growing threat posed by the National Party.

He stressed that Muslims have now become the target of the British far-right, which used in the past to target the Jews and the black.

The 1.8-million Muslim minority, making up just under three percent of Britain's population, has been suffering increasing harassment since the July 7 London attacks that killed 56 people including four British Muslim bombers, three of them of Pakistani origin.

Nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the attacks, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.

Livingstone urged both the unions and government to join hands in tackling racism in the country.

"You have to have mutual respect."