London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford has however, criticised the European Parliament plans for the EU’s ‘Year of inter-cultural dialogue’ for being confused in objectives, too focussed on religion and overlooking European Muslims.

Speaking from Strasbourg on the day that the Grand Mufti of Syria addressed MEPs as one of a series of guests, Sarah Ludford said:

“The Year of inter-cultural dialogue should be about more than windowdressing. We need to engage in serious debate, not just have speeches from an eclectic range of public fi gures.”

“The President must not let religious fi gures dominate the list of invitees, since this is the year of inter-cultural, not inter-faith dialogue. While I look forward to hearing what Pope Benedict, Sir Jonathan Sacks and the Dalai Lama have to say as well as the Grand Mufti of Syria, religion should not be treated as a synonym for culture.”

“I am also disappointed that the Grand Mufti of Syria, a person from outside the EU, has been invited in the same breath as the Pope and the British Chief Rabbi. It would have been more appropriate to invite someone from inside Europe to speak about Islam and thereby send a signal that MEPs regard Islam as a mainstream European religion.”

“It goes without saying that intercultural dialogue relies on both men and women, and I note the shameful fact that of the eight, albeit respected, individuals invited so far, none are women.”

Aside from this, in a recent Gallup poll released at the same time as the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggested that most people in Muslim countries and the West believed divisions between them are worsening.

The poll also suggested that most Europeans thought more interaction with Islam would be a threat - though most Americans disagreed.

WEF chairman Klaus Schwab said the poll pointed to “an alarmingly low level of optimism” over dialogue. It surveyed about 1,000 people in each of 21 countries, mostly in mid- 2007.

Respondents were asked how they thought relations were now and how they thought they would develop. Describing the position now, majorities on both sides said they did not believe the two sides were getting along.

This belief was strongest in the US, Israel, Denmark - where the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad caused worldwide controversy - and among Palestinians.

WEF experts examining the poll data put this down to the effect of the Iraq war and the Middle East confl ict.

By contrast, there was a less gloomy response in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

According to WEF poll, neither the West nor the Muslim world believed the other side respected it. But while Muslims said they believed their world did respect the West, Western respondents agreed that the West did not respect the Muslim world.

But there are some rays of hope among the gloom as most respondents said they did not believe violent confl ict was inevitable whilst others stated that the quality of the relationship between the West and the Muslim world was important to them personally

The WEF says the report is intended to be the fi rst in a series tracking the state of relations between Islam and the West.