European countries are paying the price for their "miscalculations" on Islam, which have come back to haunt them in the crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, according to the most influential leader of France's Muslim community, the biggest on the continent.

Dalil Boubakeur says Europe's mistakes include supporting extremist Islamic groups in Iran and Afghanistan during the cold war; encouraging multicultural systems that let radical Islamic groups flourish; and fostering a "hypocritical secularity" that allows discrimination against Muslims.