UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13: US President George Bush on Thursday touted the ability to change one’s religion as a fundamental human right at a UN inter-faith conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia that has served to highlight the differences between the Muslim and western worlds.

Mr Bush praised his close ally, Saudi King Abdullah, but effectively challenged the outlawing of apostasy, or change of religion.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, the president noted that the UN Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 60 years ago, enshrines “the right to choose or change religions and the right to worship in private or public”.

“Freedom includes the right of all people to worship as they see fit,” he told an audience made up of representatives from 80 countries.

Bush was attending the second day of a conference called at the initiative of King Abdullah to discuss ways to avoid the religious and social divides dubbed the “clash of civilizations”.

Security was tight at UN headquarters in New York, with heavily armed patrol boats cruising along the banks of the East River. The embankment highway leading to the United Nations was briefly shut down for Bush’s motorcade.

The outgoing US president was unapologetic about the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Many in the Islamic world see the United States as the aggressor in both places, but Bush claimed that his country was “protecting” Muslims.