WASHINGTON, July 29: The White House has joined other government departments and civil rights groups in condemning a Republican lawmaker who had suggested that the US should target Islamic holy sites if Muslim terrorists set off multiple nuclear attacks in American cities. “President (Bush) has made very clear that Islam is a religion that teaches peace, and it is a proud and great religion,” said White House press secretary Scott McClellan when asked to comment on Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo’s offensive remarks.

Mr McClellan noted that the US State Department “expressed the views of the administration” when it condemned those remarks. In an earlier briefing, the State Department’s deputy spokesman Adam Ereli had rejected Rep. Tancredo’s comments as “insulting and offensive”. He said: “We periodically see remarks or comments that are insulting to Islam. And such remarks, wherever they come from, are insulting and offensive to all of us.”