TEHRAN Many observers believe that the image of Muslims greatly improved as a result of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

Muslims, particularly in the West, had little social or political power if they were not billionaires or at least millionaires.

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran Imam Khomeini presented a healthy image of Muslims to the world.

"True, there still is a long way to go, but one can sense that it's no longer possible to ignore Muslims in the East or the West," one observer commented. Now, a recent example has emerged in the United States where even the president of that country had to apologize to the Muslim community of that country.

George W. Bush issued an apology Friday for the "inappropriate" removal of a Muslim from the executive office building adjacent to the White House.

About two dozen visiting Muslim community leaders walked out of the meeting on Thursday in protest after one of their members was removed by the secret service.

"The president is very upset about this," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "An action was taken that was wrong, inappropriate, and the president apologizes for it on behalf of the White House."

Fleischer said the secret service, which is responsible for protecting the president, made a mistake when a uniformed agent asked 20-year-old congressional intern Abdullah Arian to leave the executive office building adjacent to the White House.

Arian's father, Sami Arian, heads a Muslim activist group that is challenging the government's use of secret evidence to arrest, convict, and imprison people who are suspected of having links to terrorist groups.

Secret service officials have admitted that ejecting Arian was a mistake but would not say if the intern was mistaken for his father.

Arian had been taking part in a meeting between Muslim community activists and White House officials who are trying to make arrangements to include more religious groups in providing social services as part of Bush's faith-based initiative.

The entire group left the building in protest and later issued a statement that the incident, "sends a message to American Muslims that the White House will engage only if it is allowed to dictate the terms and decide who is allowed at the table".