LONDON (Reuters):

A bid by the Catholic and Anglican churches in Britain to exempt Catholic adoption agencies from being forced to place children with gay couples got Muslim backing yesterday but still looked set to fail.

The Equality Act, which comes into force in April, is designed to stop discrimination against gay and lesbian couples wishing to adopt a child, but the church leaders called for an exemption for Catholic adoption agencies on faith grounds.

Muslim support

Yesterday, Muslims voiced support for the exemption and des-cribed the government's apparent rejection as absurd.

"The Muslim Council of Britain fully supports the principled stand taken by the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican churches," it said in a statement, adding that homo-sexuality is banned in Islam.

The battle between Church and state involved Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was said to have favoured an exemption, risking a revolt by most of his ministers and underscoring the weakness of his position in the closing months of his premiership.

But yesterday Education Minister Alan Johnson, who has responsibility for adoption, said the government, including Blair, saw no case for special treatment.

"I don't see a case for exemption and I don't think the prime minister does," he told BBC radio. "The case for no exemption has been made very eloquently. The strength of that argument suggests that we cannot introduce legislation to protect gays and lesbians against discrimination and at the same time allow that discrimination to continue."

Finding a way

Blair said a decision would be taken next week and that while he favoured the right of adoption by gay couples, he also wanted to ensure the Catholic agencies continued their work.

"I have always personally been in favour of the right of gay couples to adopt. Our priority will always be the welfare of the child," he said. "I am committed to finding a way through this sensitive and difficult issue."