WASHINGTON, Oct 21: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday the Pentagon would launch an internal investigation into comments about Islam made by a senior military intelligence official.

During a Pentagon briefing, Mr Rumsfeld said the investigation came at the request of Lt Gen William Boykin, who has been sharply criticized by some Democrats and religious and civil rights groups.

Gen Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defence for intelligence and war-fighting support, made comments at churches and prayer breakfasts that cast the US “war on terrorism” in starkly religious terms, saying in one speech that Muslims worship an “idol” and not a “real God”.

—Reuters