It is ironic that the article thinks that Egypt is not the place to go if you want to broadcast to the muslim world (but doesn't go onto say where else would be a better location) when at the same time the BBC just announces that the Al-Azhar university in Egypt is going to start offering guidance to the world on how to be a good muslim. (i.e one that doesn't automatically attack the nearest non-muslim whilst shouting "death to the infidel".)

Unlike catholics, where effectively it is only the pope who can say what is and what isn't, with muslims there is no central body of religous law and any muslim religious leader can (and frequently does) make it up as he goes along.

However, if muslims did have a central body for overseeing religious laws, statementa and comments on the muslim world in general then it is generally agreed that it would be the Al-Azhar university in Egypt.

They have been offering advice, via the telephone and internet to Egyptian muslims for a while but they are now going world wide. (Apparently most of the questions are not about how to bring down western civilisation but are from teenagers troubled about their sexuality, zits, problems with the opposite sex, does my bum look big in this burka kind of thing)

The aim is to provide a voice of authority and reason when it comes to interpertations of the koran so that guilable muslim youths do not automatically believe any old fanatical rubbish spouted down at the local mosque by some bloke with a beard, hooks for hands and a hatred for the west.

I've never read the koran, and don't particularly feel the urge to, but I strongly suspect that like the bible, you can cherry pick passages that allow you to justify any action no matter how weird, stupid or objectionable. And that equally there are other passages that condemn the self same actions.

Any voices of reason, be they Obama's or some Egyptian cleric, speaking to the muslim world should therefore be welcomed.

In a free society, there is no problem of authority.

You and I know that the BBC is a more reliable source of information than the Daily Star. How do we know this?

You and I know that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a more reliable source of information on Christianity than the crazy man on the street shouting about damnation. How do we know this?

Because we are free to pick and choose what we do and do not read. The problem in the Muslim world is that they are not free to do this. The crazy man shouting about damnation, the Daily Star -their news is suppressed. The Muslim version of the BBC spews propaganda.

When it is impossible to distinguish the truth from falsehood, extremism and violence becomes inevitable.

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