Islamic moderates worldwide must speak out strongly against extremism to wrest control of the religion back from a "tyranny of the minority", Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Thursday.

"We need to push forth a moderate voice which I believe is the voice of the majority," Najib said in a keynote address to a conference on Southeast Asia's future prospects.

"There is now the tyranny of the minority, and we need to wrestle back control of religion from the extremists to the moderates."

Leaders of mainly Muslim Malaysia have publicly championed moderate Islam in a region described by the United States as its "second front" in the fight against terrorism.

The Southeast Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for the 2002 nighclub bombings in Indonesia's Bali island which killed 202 people and numerous other deadly attacks or attempted attacks in the region.

"If we are not articulate enough and we're not courageous enough to speak, then that tiny percentage of the population will hijack the majority. There is that real danger," Najib warned.

Voices drowned

Dino Patti Djalal, spokesman for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also said during the forum that moderates often "do not speak as loud and as often as they should do."

He said the voices of the moderates are usually drowned by the bombs exploded by the extremists.

"The voice of the moderates tend to speak about generalities - that Islam is against violence, we hate terrorism. But it doesn't go deeper. It doesn't point to the groups and instances... (there seems to be a) reluctance to do that," he said.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.