US Islamic leader calls Obama 'victim of Islamophobia'

WASHINGTON: - Portraying Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, as a victim of "Islamophobia", the head of an American Islamic organization has urged him to embrace his Muslim heritage with the same vigour and eloquence with which he has embraced his white and black heritage.

"While his heritage may include Muslims, Mr. Obama is a Christian, and when his religion is incorrectly identified he rightly corrects the record. Now there is even a Web site called 'Fight the Smears" that challenges the lie that he is a Muslim," Junaid Afeef, director of public and government Affairs at the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, said in a newspaper article.