"We have discovered a lot of findings that challenge those assumptions that Muslims are a problem," said Holden.

CAIRO — A British government study has found that white students are less tolerant and are a barrier to integration than their Muslim peers, The Independent reported Saturday, October 21.

"We have discovered a lot of findings that challenge those assumptions that Muslims are a problem," said Andrew Holden, of the University of Lancaster.

Commissioned by the Home Office, a Lancaster University study found that nearly a third of white students believed one race was superior to another.

The percentage was much lower among British Muslims. Only a tenth of students in Muslim schools and fewer than a fifth at mixed schools believed one race was superior to another.

The study also found that nearly one in 10 of white students had any interest in learning about other religions, compared with four in 10 Muslims.

The study was conducted at a predominantly white school in Burnley, a predominantly Asian Muslim school in Blackburn, and a mixed school in Blackburn.

Half of the students at the predominantly white school said it was unimportant to respect people regardless of gender or religion.

A quarter said there was no need to show tolerance to those with different views.

"It might be reasonable ... to suggest that it is the Asian-Muslim students in both the mixed and monocultural schools of Burnley and Blackburn who are in fact the most tolerant of all," the study concluded.

The government study dealt a blow to claims by British ministers that Muslims were less willing to integrate into society.

"It (study) does fly in the face of what ministers have been saying," Holden said.

The Muslim minority in Britain has been in the eye of storm since the 7/7 terrorist London attacks, which were carried out by four Muslim self-bombers.

The debate on Muslim integration has got more urgency after a call by cabinet minister and former foreign minister Jack Straw for Muslim women to remove their veil, considering it a symbol of separation.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also described the veil as a "mark of separation" between the Muslim minority and the rest of British society.

Senior British MPs and politicians have accused ministers of "chasing votes" and seeking political gains by the continuing focus on Muslim issues, warning that this would only play well into the hands of the far right and extremists.

Shocking

"We have discovered a lot of findings that challenge those assumptions that Muslims are a problem," said Holden.

British Muslim leaders have blamed the government for fueling anti-Muslim campaigns in the country.

"It was shocking that the government had ignored its own findings and then cynically helped to unleash a public anti-Muslim backlash that has included the vilification of Muslim schools and Muslims rights to practice their religion," said Massoud Shadjareh, chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

The Guardian reported on October 16 that a draft Education Ministry document asks lecturers and university staff across Britain to spy on Muslim students on suspicious involvement in "extremist" activities.

Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, the Muslim umbrella body in Britain, echoed a similar stance.

"The cumulative effect of their remarks has only increased the anti-Muslim climate," he said.

A Guardian/ICM poll published on Tuesday, July 26, showed that nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the London terrorist attacks, carried out by four Muslim bombers.

One in five of the polled said they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.

Physical and verbal attacks against British Muslims in general, and veiled women in particular, have been on the rise since the anti-veil statements.