"We need to inform the world of the reality of Islam," President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told a meeting of the World Islamic Economic Forum.

"Semiliterate clerics who hold sway over the masses (have contributed) to the rise of extremism in the Muslim world as opposed to moderation," he said. "This is the unfortunate reality because this is the critical malaise which spawns terrorism."

"These radical clerics reinforce the Western misperception that Islam as a religion believes in militancy and intolerance," Musharraf said.

In a wide-ranging speech, Musharraf painted a bleak picture of the economic prospects facing the world's 57 Muslim nations, pointing out that their combined gross national products were less than the GNP of a single European nation, Germany.

He said this was partially due to the low levels of education in the Muslim world.