BERLIN, Germany: Difficulties faced by many in the West in understanding Islamic culture proved a powerful theme at this year's 7th International Literature fair in Berlin.

Prominent writers, academics and sociologists deluged into Berlin, some of them seemingly desperate to convince skeptical audiences that talk of a clash of cultures and religions was nonsense.

In the fair's "Reflections" part of the program, four separate events were devoted to a mix of themes ranging from "Women in Islamic societies" and "Dreams in Islam," to "Borders of Tolerance" and "Islam in Europe."

"The dramatic course of events at the start of the millennium makes it clear that the need for resolution and explanation in the world is still growing, even in today's age of information and technology," claimed festival director Ulrich Schreiber.

The Moroccan-born writer and women's activist Fatema Mernissi, who first gained international attention with her 1975-published book, "Beyond the Veil" was one of the speakers at the festival. She spoke of a gulf between Muslim and western culture, when pointing out one did not differentiate between dreams and reality in the Islamic world, and saying that Muslim women bore three times more children than their Western counterparts - a fact, she seemed to hint, that might explain why the West feared Islam.

Some 35,000 visitors have attended more than 250 events during the 13-day run of the Fair, which ends Sunday, with Chilean author Isabel Allende reading from her latest novel, actress Jane Birkin reciting poems from Serge Gainsbourg and from a cousin, Anno Birkin, who left behind more than 1,000 poems before her death in a tragic car crash, aged 20.

The Foundation for Art and Politics and the Berliner Festspiele organized the Fair under the patronage of the German Commission for UNESCO.      

Germans increasingly convert to Islam, govt shows concern BERLIN, Germany: The Cologne-based newspaper Koelnische Rundschau quoted the Islam-Archive Central Institute based in the western town of Soest that some 18,000 German nationals have become Muslims since 1945.