WASHINGTON, Nov 8: President George W. Bush said on Thursday that America’s war was against a network of terrorists and not against Islam or Muslim civilization.

Speaking at a gathering of Muslim envoys and American Muslim leaders at an Iftar dinner at the White House, Bush said many Muslim nations supported the US-led war on terror.

“Tonight’s Iftar also sends a message to all Americans: Our nation is waging a war on a radical network of terrorists, not on a religion and not on a civilization,” said Bush.

“If we wage this war to defend our principles, we must live up to those principles ourselves. And one of the deepest commitments of America is tolerance,” he said.

No one should be treated unkindly because of the colour of his skin or the content of his creed, the president warned and urged all Americans not to judge anyone unfairly because of his or her appearance, ethnic background or religious faith. “We must uphold these values of progress, pluralism and tolerance.”

Besides Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, ambassadors from the 56 member nations of the Organization of Islamic Conference and Muslim representatives from across America attended the Iftar.

Special arrangements were made for providing traditional Iftar food.

“In hosting tonight’s Iftar, I send a message to all the nations represented by their ambassadors here tonight: America treasures your friendship. America honours your faith,” said Bush while welcoming his guests.

“We see in Islam a religion that traces its origins back to God’s call on Abraham. We share your belief in God’s justice, and your insistence on man’s moral responsibility,” he said.

He thanked those Muslim nations that stood with America against terror and reminded his audience that some of those “nations ... are often victims of terror themselves.”

Islam, he said, was a religion that brought hope and comfort to more than a billion people around the world. “It has made brothers and sisters of every race. It has given birth to a rich culture of learning and literature and science. Tonight we honour the traditions of a great faith by hosting this Iftar at the White House,” declared Bush. The practice of inviting prominent Muslims to the White House for an Iftar dinner was started by the Clinton administration in 1996.

“America rejects all forms of religious intolerance. America grieves with all the victims of religious bigotry. And America opposes all who commit evil in God’s name,” the president said.