Anders Fogh Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark, has warned that Europe’s Muslims need better education and job opportunities if religious confrontations, such as the violent protests over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, are to be avoided.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Rasmussen said the crisis, which followed riots by immigrant youths in France late last year and suicide bombings by Muslim extremists in London in July, showed Europe had failed to integrate its Muslim minorities. “Better education and more jobs for immigrants – these are the main elements of better social cohesion all over Europe,” he said.