As the crisis over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad flared over the last two weeks, leaders of several American Muslim groups began working quietly to try to mediate between European Muslims and the West. 

Muslim American leaders say they feel anguish over the Muslim world's violent protests, which have left at least 11 people dead. Azeem Khan, assistant secretary general of the Islamic Circle of North America, based in New York, said, "It hurts us when people attack embassies, because it reinforces the image that we were protesting in the first place, which is that Muslims are violent."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/international/americas/13muslim.html&cid=0