The founder of the New Alliance party - now the Liberal Alliance - has quit his party

Naser Khader dropped a bomb on his party colleagues Monday when he announced his departure from the the Liberal Alliance - a party he founded in May 2007.

Khader indicated that he no longer 'had his heart' in the party, whose platform he believed had become too economically liberal since its name change in August to the Liberal Alliance.

'I'm not a liberalist, I'm a liberal. A social liberal,' Khader stated in his farewell e-mail to the party. 'I envisioned the New Alliance to be a bridge-building party, a party of values, an integration party. But it has lost its social dignity and human warmth.'

He acknowledged, however, his own failures to the party that he was the primary force in creating.

'I have to admit that I dropped the ball on my share of the project. I think I lost my vision when it was no longer a question of ideals but one of political power,' stated Khader.

The Syrian-born Khader became known in political circles for his moderate views that often conflicted with that of the Muslim population inevitably associated with his origins.

Khader, who had been an MP for the Social Liberals, left that party and established the New Alliance together with Social Liberal MEP Anders Samuelsen and Conservative MEP Gitte Seeberg. The party, which promoted a centrist platform, originally hit with voters, garnering enough support to have given it 22 seats in an election.

But the novelty quickly wore off. By the time the 2007 election actually took place in November, New Alliance won only five parliamentary seats. Seeberg left the party in January of last year and, as of June, the New Alliance had only 0.2 percent of the vote according to polls.

A new group of independent MPs subsequently joined Khader and Samuelsen in changing the New Alliance to the Liberal Alliance.

But Khader indicated in his e-mail that he would not be creating any new political parties in the future.

He did say he would stay involved in politics and work for the causes most important to him, including balancing the war on terror with integration and the defence of democracy and human rights.