SAN FRANCISCO, May 5: Hate crimes against American Muslims increased by 121 percent in 2003, according to a report released today by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) , a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group. The report attributed this sharp increase to Islamo phobic rhetoric.

The CAIR report - the only annual study of its kind - records 1019 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment in 2003, the highest number of Muslim civil rights cases ever recorded by the group. Muslims in Arizona, New York, California, and New Jersey experienced the greatest increase in reported incidents.

The CAIR said factors contributing to the sharp increase in reported incidents included a lingering atmosphere of post-9/11 fear in America, pro-war rhetoric leading up to and following last year's invasion of Iraq, a disturbing increase in anti- Muslim rhetoric, and abuses associated with the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act.

"The disturbing jump in reports of anti-Muslim incidents is a wake-up call to those commentators who use their public positions to spread anti-Muslim hate," said CAIR Research Director Dr. Muhammad Nimer, the report's author.