MADRID (AFP) — The heads of the two main Muslim news and networking Internet sites in France and Spain hosted a meeting Friday in Madrid to discuss the creation of a European-wide Islamic media network.

"We hope to create a better understanding of the Muslim faith and provide information on Islam at a European level," the director of French Muslim news and networking site SaphirNews, Mohammed Colin, told reporters.

Colin co-hosted the meeting of about 30 representatives of Muslim media and community groups from across Europe to discuss the creation of the network together with the director of Spanish Muslim site Webislamica, Yusuf Fernandez.

Participants discussed a proposed "charter of values" for the media network which will be based on "pluralism and freedom of expression", said Colin.

In September Saphirnews launched in France "Salam News", the first free monthly aimed at Muslims.

Europe has some 20 million Muslims. France has the largest Muslim population with about five million people, followed by Britain and Germany which each have about three million Muslims, according to Saphirnews.

Source: AFP