Islamic "terrorism" is holding the Muslim world hostage, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said on a visit to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
But the West must also change its attitude to the Islamic world -- and in particular persuade Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory -- if global terrorism is to be defeated, he said on Friday.
The Pakistani leader made the remarks in a wide-ranging speech about the challenges facing the Islamic world during his state visit to Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim state which has forged close links with Islamabad.
"Unfortunately the Islamic world is faced with many problems. It is as if the Islamic world is facing a storm," the 60-year-old president, speaking through an interpreter, told a special session of the Azeri parliament.
"It is also unfortunate that terrorism does harm to Muslim countries... The tactics they use, terrorism, car bombs, executions and other dirty methods, damage our great religion. Today they are holding our societies hostage."
"They must understand that they cannot solve the problems of the Islamic world this way...I call on them to return to the true path."
But he said the West, and particularly the United States, had to assist the Islamic world in stamping out terrorism.
Western nations could do this by helping Islamic countries develop their economies. The West should also help resolve a series of conflicts in which Muslim communities have found their territory under occuppation, he said.
He listed Pakistan's dispute with India over Kashmir, Azerbaijan's lingering conflict with its neighbour Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The Palestinian problem must be resolved in a just way," the Pakistani leader said. "Israel must accept reality and return to the framework of its 1967 borders."
"If we are able to put this into practise, then the world will be able to root out extremism, militarism and terrorism," Musharraf added. "If the status quo remains, then that will not lead to the resolution of these problems."
Musharraf, an army chief who came to power in a bloodless coup five years ago, is himself walking a delicate tightrope on Islamic issues.
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, he supported the US-led operation to overthrow the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and root out terrorist groups.
But that support for Washington has made him a villain in the eyes of many Muslim radicals. He has since been the target of several near-miss assassination attempts.
Musharraf was speaking on the second day of his visit to Azerbaijan, a country of eight million mostly Shia Muslims bordering Russia and Iran.
On Thursday, Musharraf signed a package of documents on trade and security cooperation between the two countries. He said that in Azerbaijan, Islamabad had found a steadfast international ally.
Later Friday, Musharraf is due to go on a walkabout in the Azeri capital, Baku, and attend a concert in his honour at the State Philharmonic Hall.
Musharraf and his entourage are scheduled to leave Azerbaijan on Saturday morning.