Police are investigating Mr Kilroy-Silk's article after a CRE complaint

Trevor Phillips called for the BBC presenter - whose show was suspended - to admit his comments were "wrong, incorrect and very offensive".

Mr Kilroy-Silk had earlier said he "regretted" the Sunday Express article.

In an interview shown on ITV News on Sunday evening, he defended his view that some Arab countries were dictatorial.

You can't go around saying to Muslims, 'we want you to be British, we want you to be part of the society' then at the same time allow people to say anything they like about Arabs and Muslims Trevor Phillips

Mr Kilroy-Silk repeated some of his controversial remarks, saying it was true that some Arab regimes amputated people's limbs and repressed women, although he made it clear he was not referring to Arabs in general.

He said he understood the BBC's problem, as the remarks could have undermined his impartiality - but he questioned whether they had done so.

No one had complained to him when the remarks were first published last April, he said.

Earlier, Mr Phillips accused the former labour MP of posing as a "24-carat martyr".

And he said Mr Kilroy Silk's refusal to apologise properly for the original article, in which he called Arabs "suicide bombers, limb amputators, woman repressors", was an attempt to "defend the indefensible".

I clearly do not believe that all Arabs are suicide bombers...that would be stupid Robert Kilroy-Silk Kilroy defends Arab states attack

He told Sky News: "What I think Robert could do, because let me be clear I don't think he is a racist, but I think that this kind of nonsense - trying to defend the indefensible - is throwing him into disrepute.

"If we support it, if we allow it, most Muslims both here and abroad will think everything the extremists say about the British, that they are against Arabs, is true because they allow this kind of thing to be said about us."

He said Mr Kilroy-Silk should acknowledge he did something "wrong and stupid" but that this did not make him a "died-in-the-wool" racist.

HAVE YOUR SAY They should get Kilroy to do a program on Arab nations, and discuss the points he raised. Dave, Coventry Send us your comments

"You can't go around saying to Muslims, 'we want you to be British, we want you to be part of the society' then at the same time allow people to say anything they like about Arabs and Muslims", he added.

The Muslim Council of Britain has also demanded a full apology.

Secretarial mistake

In an interview with this week's Sunday Telegraph, Mr Kilroy-Silk argued that he had a right to say "there are Arab states that are evil, despotic and treat women abominably".

I'm disappointed that the BBC didn't feel able to support me Robert Kilroy-Silk Profile of Kilroy-Silk

And he claimed his secretary mistakenly sent the column to the Sunday Express instead of one on foreigners using the NHS, as he had planned.

He said the article, which was originally published during the Iraq War in April of last year, had not caused offence at the time and was intended as a criticism of certain Arab regimes, and not Arab people.

Mr Kilroy-Silk said: "I clearly do not believe that all Arabs are suicide bombers etc. That would be stupid.

"As we all know most Arabs are educated, civilised and urbane."

Police investigation

Mr Kilroy-Silk insisted he was not a racist and that his morning chat show had done a great deal to promote equality.

Mr Kilroy-Silk said: "I have done more for race relations than the Commission for Racial Equality, empowering black people and presenting them in a positive light."

The BBC announced on Friday it was suspending the Kilroy programme, which will be taken off the air from Monday while an investigation is carried out.

Police are investigating Mr Kilroy-Silk's comments after a complaint by the CRE.