CAPE TOWN: The US-led “war on terror” has opened a Pandora's Box of unintended consequences and is veering dangerously close to Islamophobia, South Africa's intelligence minister said on Thursday.

Ronnie Kasrils said South Africa believed that the “terrorist” label should not be indiscriminately or incorrectly applied. “This has unfortunately become all too commonplace in the global environment,” he said.

The US-led anti-terror campaign is now a multi-billion dollar military operation spread across the globe. Following the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the world's main superpower has tried to root out terrorism in various, mostly Muslim countries.

Critics of the US strategy charge that pre-emptive military strikes and the secret removal and incarceration of suspected Muslim militants in places like Guantanamo Bay infringe international law and fuel religious tensions and anti-West sentiment.

“We are concerned that the so-called 'global war on terror' has opened a Pandora's Box. It has fuelled a host of unforeseen and unintended consequences ... deep grievances and veers on a dangerous phobia about Islam; one of the world’s most respected and venerated religions,” Kasrils said.—Reuters