Despite his country's restrictive rules on the practice of religions other than Islam, King Abdullah is pushing for interfaith cooperation on an international level.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia plans to travel to New York next month to lead UN discussions on interfaith understanding.

Speaking to journalists in the lead-up to the visit, the King said that "the dialogue comes a time when the world is criticizing Islam....nothing can purify (Islam's reputation) except for the extension of Muslims' hands to their brothers in other religions." The meetings in New York will be attended by President Zadari of Pakistan and UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon.

The Saudi King has led various interfaith discussions in recent years. As AP has reported, he has led talks between Sunnis and Shi'ites, between various Muslim sects in Mecca, and between multiple faiths during a conference hosted in Spain in the last year.

Community leaders, volunteers and prominent Muslims in the UK have launched a major campaign to tackle Islamophobia.

British Muslims have launched a media and awareness campaign to challenge the association between terrorism and Islam.

Consisting of billboards, large advertisements in prominent newspapers and an online campaign, the project aims to reverse the damage done to the Muslim community's image following terrorist attacks and plots in the UK over the last few years. It will also include a traveling exhibition to move around the region over the next two years.

The grassroots campaign aims to disseminate accurate information about Islam and Muslims.  British Muslim MP Sadiq Khan told Islamonline.net  "this is a fantastic initiative...Islam is a faith whose primary focus is peace and submission to One God. This campaign will help to bust some of the myths about Islam and allow the true face of Islam to reach all parts of our country."

The Asian Centre for Human Rights reviews the peace process and puts forward its own recommendations to revive the talks.

The collapse of the peace talks was not triggered by either party but rather by a judgement of the Supreme Court declaring a draft Memorandum of Agree­ment on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the MILF and the Philippines government as "against the law and Constitution".

The collapse of the peace talks with the MILF provides an opportunity for both parties to address inherent flaws, in particular the non inclusion of indigenous Lumads who are non Muslims unlike the Bangsamoros. The non-inclusion is not only a flaw in the peace process but constitutes a clear violation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.

To sustain counterproductive policies, politicians resort to fear mongering, thus unleashing a vicious cycle. One in which "fear" leads to bad policies and bad policies lead to more "fear."

Colin Powell's endorsement of Democratic Presidential nominee Sen. Obama is certainly big news. In endorsing Obama, Powell did not hide his respect for Sen. McCain. But he underscored two very important points - the narrowing of the Republican agenda and the questionable selection of Sarah Palin.
A particular point of Powell's interview on Meet the Press caught my attention:

 "I am also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is - what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, ‘He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America.