I AM a little surprised by CT Riley's opinion that the views of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) are often found only "within newspapers which the majority of ordinary people never read" (HAS, Dec 17).

MCB statements have appeared in most national newspapers as well as in The Northern Echo. MCB representatives often appear on BBC radio and TV news programmes.

A possible reason why mainstream Muslim opinion is misunderstood is that Muslims do have genuine grievances against the West, for example, in relation to the blatantly one-sided approach to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Most Muslims condemn both the evil terrorism of al Qaida and the excessive violence of the "War on Terror". This is a perfectly tenable view, but it is problematic for those who espouse the absurd "you're either with us or against us"

doctrine of George W Bush.

Similarly, many Muslims were offended by the Satanic Verses, the Danish cartoons and the views of the Pope, but also disapproved of the violent and threatening demonstrations which followed.

Fareena Alam, editor of the Muslim newspaper Q News, said: "Such insults are as old as Islam.

The Prophet dealt with them with dignity. We must stop overreacting..."

Pete Winstanley, Durham.