Scores of religious leaders, government officials and scholars will gather in the Malaysian capital from tomorrow to ponder the challenges facing the Muslim world, amid global protests sparked by cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami will be among the participants at the two-day International Conference on "Who Speaks for Islam? Who Speaks for the West?".

The conference, to be opened by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will address some of the major issues affecting Muslim-Western relations, said Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"We will discuss ways to dispel mutual misperceptions through the media, the impact of globalisation on the Muslim world and the challenges posed by science and technology," he told a news conference.

Lack of understanding

Delegates will also discuss how policymakers can develop policies to ensure that globalisation benefits Muslims and diffuse Muslim grievances towards the West.

Syed Hamid said that the controversial caricatures depicting Prophet Mohammed was an example of "abuse of freedom because of a lack of understanding" of Islam.

"Freedom does not mean that you can touch on sensitivity of others," he said pointing out that images of the Prophet was "abhorrent" and forbidden in Islam but that this might not be widely known outside the Muslim world.

"We need to promote greater understanding between Islam and the West," he said.