Williams defends Sharia remarks

London: The Archbishop of Canterbury said on Monday Britain could make some accommodation with traditional Islamic law but without compromising the rights of any citizen.

Archbishop Rowan Williams, speaking to the Church of England's General Synod, sought to clarify his remarks last week, when he suggested Sharia law might have a role in aspects of marital law, such as regulating financial transactions and resolving conflicts.

"Some of what has been heard is a very long way indeed from what was actually said in the Royal Courts of Justice last Thursday," Williams said.

"But I must, of course, take responsibility for any unclarity in either that text or in the radio interview, and for any misleading choice of words that has helped to cause distress or misunderstanding among the public at large, and especially among my fellow Christians."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had earlier praised the embattled archbishop as a man of "great integrity".

"The prime minister believes the Archbishop of Canterbury is a man of great integrity and dedication to public and community service and he understands the difficulty he is facing at the moment," Brown's spokesman said.

"The archbishop has been clarifying and setting in a wider context the comments he has made and I'm sure he will continue to do so in the future."

But the spokesman also reiterated a previous reaction to Williams' original remarks, underlining the need for British law to take primacy.

"The prime minister is very clear that British laws must be based on British values and that religious law, while respecting other cultures, should be subservient to British criminal and civil law," he said.

Two members of the General Synod have called openly for Williams, who has been Archbishop of Canterbury since 2002, to stand down over the affair.

Much of the debate has been centred on the potential for division between ethnic communities in Britain, particularly the country's 1.6 million Muslims, at a time when the government is trying to promote a more cohesive society.

Britain's tabloid press focused on the harsher elements of Sharia punishment, although in practice the code is generally used in Britain for questions surrounding marriage and the preparation of halal meat.