DAKAR, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - A summit of Muslim nations on Friday agreed on measures to give their group greater global clout, as the head of the world's most populous Muslim country Indonesia called for an 'Islamic Renaissance'.

The summit's final declaration attacked the United States, which has named a special envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, for passing sanctions against Syria.

It also condemned 'pressure' being put on Iran over its nuclear programme, but 'strongly condemned' the Taliban militia and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The OIC summit adopted a new charter allowing faster decision making and creating new institutions for the 57-nation body.

OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the Dakar summit had been 'historic' because of the unanimous adoption of the new charter, replacing a 1972 version that he insisted was outdated.

The new constitution streamlines the OIC's operations, allowing new countries to join with just a majority vote instead of the usual unanimous agreement for which decisions are normally taken.

Agreement was reached after several days of intense talks and despite the absence of several prominent leaders -- including Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, Libya's Moamer Kadhafi and Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf.

The OIC leaders used the summit to strongly complain about Islamophobia in the West, complaining that Muslims were often unjustifiably treated as terrorists.

Many leaders called for stronger action by the OIC and western governments to stop 'insults' such as cartoons published in Denmark which lampooned the Prophet Mohammed and the looming release of an anti-Islam film by a Dutch far-right MP.

In a speech to the summit, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for a jihad of peace, including greater democracy and efforts to empower Muslims to improve the religion's image and boost its influence.

'The possibility of an Islamic Renaissance lies before us,' Yudhoyono told the summit, but first, he added: 'We need to get our act together as an organisation of Muslim nations.

'When the Islamic Renaissance comes it will be the natural fruit of a peaceful and constructive 'jihad'.'

Yudhoyono said the OIC was 'unique' because it covers three continents and 'Muslim countries supply 70 percent of the world's energy requirements and 40 percent of its raw material exports.'

But he said 'protracted conflicts in Muslim societies bring shame' to the Muslim world and meant that 'Islam has unjustly been associated with violence.'

'We must disabuse the world of this terrible misconception,' he said, calling for greater efforts against 'Islamaphobia' in the West but also greater democracy in Muslim nations.

'We must strive for good governance and attend to our democratic deficit.'

Indonesia, with more than 230 million people, is the world's most populous Muslim nation and its third biggest democracy.

'History tells us that Muslims in the past contributed immensely to the march of civilization through groundbreaking achievements in the sciences, as well as in arts.' But Yudhoyono added that Islam was now 'on the defensive'.

He called for efforts to 'improve the plight of the Muslim peoples,' adding that this meant 'extensive economic cooperation among ourselves ... pooling of resources and plugging of the development gaps all over the Muslim world.'

Yudhoyono said there should be investment schemes and 'Islamic free trade areas'.

The summit's final declaration 'condemned' the United States over its sanctions against Syria last year which the leaders called 'blatant prejudice in Israel's favour'.

Sada Cumber, an American-Pakistani, attended the summit less than a week after he was announced by President George W. Bush as the first US special envoy to the United States.

The declaration attacked the 'terrorist and criminal activities' of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, specifically highlighting the growing number of suicide attacks.

The next OIC summit will be held in Cairo in 2011.