LONDON, Jan 10: The head of Britain's Muslim Council on Saturday demanded a full apology from a controversial BBC TV talk show host for a column in which he equated Arabs with suicide bombers and repressors of women.

Robert Kilroy-Silk had his popular "Kilroy" show suspended on Friday after writing a commentary in Britain's Sunday Express paper lambasting Arabs as "suicide bombers, limb amputators, women repressors".

His comments, which also said few Arab countries made "much contribution to the welfare of the rest of the world", provoked a storm of outrage among Muslims in Britain, and forced the BBC to suspend the show.

Kilroy-Silk apologized on Friday for his comments, saying they had been taken out of context.

"I greatly regret the offence which has been caused by the article published in last weekend's Sunday Express," he said.

But the apology did not go far enough for Iqbal Sacranie, the head of the British Muslim Council, which groups 350 Muslim associations together.

"I think he has basically regretted some of the statements in the article but he has not made a full apology," Mr Sacranie said in an interview with the BBC.

"The article itself I think is of racist nature and it is only appropriate that there should be a full apology so the matter can then rest and hopefully not be repeated again."

The tabloid Sunday Express leapt to the TV host's defence, saying the commentary was not of a racist nature.

"The article was not racist. It was legalled by lawyers and there is absolutely no case to answer," the paper said in a statement quoted by its daily counterpart, Daily Express.

Kilroy-Silk had been withering in his assessment of Arab states. "Indeed, apart from oil - which was discovered, is produced and paid for by the West - what do they (Arab states) contribute?

"Can you think of anything? Anything really useful? Anything really valuable? Something we really need, could not do without?"-AFP