BLAIRS IN INDIA: BLAIR PLEA TO ALL MUSLIMS

TONY Blair yesterday called on leaders of the Muslim world to declare war on religious fundamentalism.

He said the atrocities of September 11 must be taken as a wake-up call in Islamic countries as well as the West.

The PM risked stirring up opposition from Arab leaders with a blunt "get tough" message in a speech in India.

He said: "There are many reasons why the al-Qaeda network developed. But one reason that cannot be ducked is fundamentalism.

"We need, with the Muslim world, to take on the fanatics, the extremists who warp the true message of Islam, which is caring and decent.

"That can only be done by the true voice of Islam itself. It cannot be imposed from outside.

"It must deal with fanaticism head on - the schools that teach it, those who preach it, the political extremists that feed on it."

Mr Blair added: "It is immensely encouraging that there are real signs that many clerics and political leaders in the Moslem world are now reclaiming the true values and spirit of that great faith."

The Prime Minister's hard-hitting call was a clear message to Pakistan to crack down on the Kashmir terror groups operating on its soil.

Mr Blair, who has pledged to try to "calm down" the dispute between the two nuclear states, ran into a diplomatic minefield on his first full day in India.

He was criticised publicly - and to his face - by Indian cabinet minister Pramud Mahajan before his speech to business leaders in Bangalore.

Mr Mahajan told him: "People say you have come to cool us down. We have been cool enough for the last 50 years - but there can't be one set of rules for one and one for another."

India has massed 600,000 troops on its border after accusing Pakistan of shielding Kashmiri separatists who left dozens dead in cross-border suicide attacks on the Kashmiri legislature on October 1 and the Indian parliament on December 13.

Mr Blair will hold talks today with Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee to urge him to demobilise his forces.

Delegates at the business leaders conference hailed Mr Blair as a "global leader" and gave him two standing ovations.

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