LONDON, June 25: A leading British Muslim rights group named world leaders George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac and Ariel Sharon as the worst "Islamophobes" of 2004 on Saturday.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) selected the three in their annual "Islamophobia Awards" to highlight what they described as growing anti-Muslim prejudice.

"It is with great sadness that we reveal this year's winners," the group said in a statement.

"Sadly, the competition was extremely tough and we see no signs of this abating in the year to come."

While the awards are satirical, commission chairman Massoud Shadjareh said demonization of Muslims was now comparable to that endured by the Jewish community before World War Two.

US President Bush got the top "Islamophobe of the year" award for his anti-terror war, which the IHRC said was in fact a crusade against Islam. French President Chirac and Israeli Prime Minister Sharon were named joint winners of the "Most Islamophobic International Politician".

Chirac outraged Muslims last year when he described the headscarf as "aggressive" during a campaign to ban all religious symbols from public schools.

Sharon was included after another year of Israeli-Palestinian violence. "Sharon has a whole history of being Islamophobic and basically racist over Palestine and the way that the Palestinians have been treated," Shadjareh said.

The head of Britain's government-funded Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Phillips, welcomed the awards as an important step to "fight bigotry and prejudice against Muslims."

Since the September 11 attacks on the United States, rights groups in Britain and elsewhere have reported an increase in anti-Muslim attacks and prejudiced attitudes.

Britain's leading Muslim umbrella organization, the Muslim Council for Britain, said Islamophobia was becoming institutionalized. "Ordinary Muslims have felt it through anti-terror laws which have targeted disproportionately the Muslim community," said spokesman Inayat Bunglawala.

"What we are concerned about is that a generation of Muslim youths are becoming disaffected."

British politicians and elements of the media were also singled out by the IHRC for promoting Islamophobia.

Far-right British National Party leader Nick Griffin was named most Islamophobic British politician while the right-leaning Daily Telegraph took the media award.

London's police were given a special award for, amongst other things, "disproportionately targeting Muslims."-Reuters