All parties must put an end to discussions pertaining to the status of Islam being the country's official religion, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

If the discussion was not kept in check, he warned that it would create a tense situation among the country's multi-racial and multi-religious people.

"The issue of religion is very sensitive, more sensitive than the issue of race, so the press should be responsible and not blow it up," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

"They should not report news that could cause anger or tension, and result in something undesirable," he told a news conference after chairing an Umno Supreme Council meeting yesterday.

He advised all parties, especially the media, to be careful in this matter.

Abdullah, who is the Umno president, also reiterated his call to immediately stop all discussions on establishing the proposed Inter-Faith Council (IFC).

Worrying stage

He said the cabinet had put off a decision on the establishment of IFC and there was no need to discuss it further.

This was because any discussion would create undesirable happenings since every party would want to give its views, he explained.

"The Umno supreme council's stand is that it would be better not to have the IFC at all although we understand the feelings of the followers of other religions in the country but the situation has reached a stage that worries all of us," he said.

He urged all parties not to carry out activities relating to the IFC so that no one would do anything about it.

The government, he said, was observing closely the present developments and would make a decision on the IFC.

The issue of religion came to the forefront following several controversial cases, namely the death of Everest climber M Moorthy.

Forums on the freedom of religion held by a group calling itself Article 11 have also met with strong resistance from numerous Muslim groups.