Companies have pulled their ads from a TV show that portrays Muslims as benign.

Upon release, an Islamic group violently protested against the film, claiming that it portrayed Muslims as terrorists and traitors.

He insists that Muslims are really Serbs who converted to Islam, yet he also portrays Muslims as bloodthirsty and brutal Turks.

Siddiqui also wrote that Mark Steyn's article was "a 4,800-word piece portraying Muslims as a menace to the West."

As the reasoning goes, some seek to portray Muslims as enemies of Western values and incapable of integration in European society.

According to some editors, however, the new coverage can sit poorly with readers, especially if they feel a newspaper is portraying Bangladeshis or Muslims in a bad light.

In August 2006, a play Smegma was banned by Media Development Authority which said that: "the play portrays Muslims in a negative light."

Earlier in his career, Mr. Akkad produced and directed two films portraying Muslims as heroes.

"I think it is possible to portray Muslims without having to set them against the backdrop of a post-9/11 world," he said.

Tahir Shah from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee criticised the storyline as soon as it was reported for portraying Muslims in a negative light.