The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has strongly rejected claims that Christianity and Islam are at war.

Dr Carey was interviewed live during a visit to Qatar, by the Al Jazeera television network, which has previously broadcast material by Osama Bin Laden calling for a "Jihad" against Christianity.

Dr Carey said: "This is not religious conflict, Christians and Muslims are not at war. It is a fight against terrorism."

He added: "I hope that the events of September 11th will act as a catalyst for us to deepen our dialogue and our commitment to one another. I believe we have a lot in common."

Dr Carey also spoke of relations between Christians and Muslims in Britain and expressed the hope that they could become a model for others. He said of British Muslims: "We are delighted they are there. They add something to our national life. I hope, actually, that we can contribute something together to the rest of the world."

The Archbishop also denied that the West was equating Islam and terrorism: "I do not make that link between Islam and terrorism. Very few people in the west are doing that. I want to say to young Muslims in my country and elsewhere, don't make that link. We are not regarding Islam as responsible for the events of September 11th. We must destroy that link once and for all and focus on what happened. It is terrorism we are against, whether it is people distorting Islam or not. Let's get religion out of it.

"But religious people have a responsibility to actually do something and to dig deep into our faith and to seek what we have in common, to build together, to build better communities."