WASHINGTON, Oct 30: British Defence Minister Geoff Hoon, in Washington to consult the United States on the war in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday the campaign should take account of Ramazan because of sensitivities in the Muslim world.

But Hoon also said the allies must keep military pressure on the Taliban and not give away their intentions in advance.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had said on Monday the United States had no intention of halting air strikes during Ramazan.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke on Tuesday took a position similar to that of Hoon, saying the United States would listen to concerns about warfare during the holy month.

“We are going to be very sensitive. We are going to listen to people’s concerns. We are going to point out again and again and again that history is full of examples of Muslims fighting during Ramazan, but we are certainly not going to telegraph what we are going to do,” she told reporters.

Hoon, who has just visited the Middle East, told reporters: “We obviously have regard for the sensitivities of Ramazan. It is something that we will consider very carefully.”

He added: “It ... was raised with me (in the Middle East) and what I essentially said was that we would have regard to Ramazan but equally we would have regard to the military necessity of keeping the Taliban regime under pressure.—Reuters