'War on terror' brings havoc, maligns Muslims: Qatar

The West's so-called war on terror has cast a shadow over the last decade, deepening violent conflict and unfairly depicting Islam, the leader of Gulf state Qatar told the United Nations on Friday.

"This first decade of the 21st century has been blindly attacked by what has come to be known as the war on terrorism," Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said in prepared remarks at the annual UN General Assembly meeting.

"What we have seen and suffered from in the first decade of this century ... plunged us into a kind of war with no limits, nor end, nor logic nor legal or moral conditions. Some of this is still happening," he said.

The government of former US President George W Bush launched the 'Global War on Terror' following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, joined by a number of allies from the West as it waged war against al-Qaeda, as well as the Taliban in Afghanistan and Islamist insurgents in Iraq.

The Qatari leader blamed the campaigns of the last decade for the death, displacement and impoverishment of millions of people.

While Bush said his campaign did not target Islam, the wars in Muslim Afghanistan and mostly Muslim Iraq have driven a wedge between the West and many Muslims the world over.

"We disagree with the attribution of this so-called terrorism to the Islamic religion, because this - in addition to being incorrect - is a historical injustice that is refuted by evidence from recent history," he said.

The Qatari leader noted the Obama administration, which has sought to repair relations with the Middle East and Muslim world, does not use the term but said "we are still looking for clearer and bolder initiatives."