BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Musharraf calls for religious tolerance

Pakistan's military ruler, General Musharraf, has appealed to religious leaders to pay more attention to human rights and help bring an end to sectarian violence in the country.

General Musharraf was speaking at an annual event the Seerat conference held to celebrate the birthday of the prophet, Muhammad.

The BBC correspondent in Islamabad says this year's celebrations come at a time when the role of religion in Pakistan is the subject of public debate.

There was a strong and hostile reaction from religious groups after the interior minister Moinuddin Haider was quoted as saying Pakistan should become a progressive, modern and tolerant secular state.

He later said he believed Pakistan was, after all, an Islamic state.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service