The Ulster Unionist Party has been called on to distance itself from remarks made by one of its councillors who said Islam was 'the enemy' of Christianity.
Mr Fred Crow, a councillor on Craigavon Council, was quoted in a report carried this week by the BBC as saying that Muslims were "out to wipe out Christianity".
A statement released to the media today and signed by minority, religious and civil rights groups also called on the UUP to expel the councillor.
The statement called on the Ulster Unionist Party to use their party conference thisweekend to completely distance themselves from Mr Crowe's remarks and to expel him from the party.
The statement said Mr Crow's remarks were 'a disgrace'and called on the leaders of the main churches and political parties to immediately issue statements condemning the remarks.
The statement called on the Ulster Unionist Party to use their party conference thisweekend to completely distance themselves from Mr Crowe's remarks and to expel him from the party.
The statement said Mr Crow's comments "will only serve to increase the suffering of the minority ethnic population in Craigavon and across the whole of Northern Ireland. "
The Muslim Community in Craigavon have recently been the victims of racially-motivated attacks and it has been reported that up to eight families have been forced out of the area.
Earlier this year, the local Muslim Imam and his family moved away after his home was attacked by men wielding baseball bats.
The BBC report suggested that minority groups in Northern Ireland were more than twice as likely to suffer racially-motivated attacks than their counterparts in England and Wales.