WASHINGTON, Oct 26: US President George Bush on Tuesday expressed regret over using the word "crusade" to describe the "war on terror" he launched after the Sept 11 attacks.

"I said it once and probably shouldn't have used that word," Bush said in an interview with ABC television aired on Tuesday.

Shortly after the 2001 attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and outside Washington, Mr Bush had said: "This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile."

The president's use of the word "crusade" sparked a visceral reaction around the world, as it recalls the fierce, bloody battles between Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages.

"I don't think this is a religious war," Mr Bush said of the anti-terror effort. "I think this is a war between evil people that are willing to kill on a mass scale, people that would like to end up with weapons of mass destruction and even kill more than they did in New York City and Washington, DC."

Asked whether Christians and Muslims worshipped the same God, Mr Bush replied: "I think we do," but he added: "We have different routes of getting to the Almighty."

However, speaking about Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Jordanian militant Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, whose group has taken responsibility for multiple slayings in Iraq, Mr Bush said: "I think they pray to a false god. Otherwise, they wouldn't be killing innocent lives like they have been."-AFP