Jewish groups shun EU meeting on religion

BRUSSELS, May 11 (Reuters) - Leading Jewish groups refused to attend a European Union meeting with religious leaders on Monday in protest at the participation of Muslim organisations they accused of being radical and anti-Semitic.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the head of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, hosted the meeting with chiefs of religious groups and senior priests to try to promote dialogue and discuss the economic crisis.

However, the Conference of European Rabbis and the World Jewish Congress declined the invitation because the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe, an umbrella for various Muslim groups, was to attend.

"We do not consider it appropriate that organisations such as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe, or individuals who in the past made, or endorsed, anti-Semitic statements ... should be present at such gatherings," Rabbi Aba Dunner, chief of the Conference of European Rabbis, said.

He said the group was linked to a number of radical Islamist movements, citing the Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition group banned in Egypt.

Officials from the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe were not immediately available for comment.

Barroso criticised the boycott, saying the meeting's purpose was to strengthen dialogue among religions.

"The Commission regrets that some of the invited have decided not to participate in this dialogue between the EU and religious leaders," he told a news conference. (Reporting by Marcin Grajewski)