AMMAN: Plans by Jordan and other Arab countries to modernize school textbooks to introduce notions of tolerance, human rights and democracy have left academics and legislators wary of Western intervention.

Religious MPs have taken the lead among conservatives and fundamentalists in warning governments in Amman, Kuwait and Riyadh not to bow to US pressure when they set down new guidelines for what should be taught in schools.

Their main concern is that a revamped curriculum will ignore tradition and the precepts of Islam which they see as the basis for society in these Muslim Arab countries.

On Sunday, 50 Jordanian deputies called for a private session of parliament to discuss plans by the education ministry to introduce new textbooks in the 2004-2005 school year.

Parliament's education committee, headed by Adnan Hassuneh, was also planning to meet Education Minister Khaled Tuqan on Tuesday to discuss the reform plan.

Jordanian textbooks planned for the next school year will make the difference between "terrorism and legitimate resistance" part of a comprehensive human rights programme.

Arab and Muslim countries like Jordan have come under pressure from the West following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The Shura council in Saudi Arabia endorsed on Sunday an education review bill that calls for making the concept of moderation a central tenet of Islam.

Kuwait also announced plans to reform its education system along the same lines but has met opposition from lawmakers who warn against bowing to Western pressure.-AFP