Donít mention the war, says Blair
-20/07/05
The UK government has established a joint task force with British Muslims to look at how to combat extremism among elements of their communities. But in examining root causes, Prime Minister Tony Blair continues to maintain vehemently that there is no connection between the London bombings of 7 July and Western policy in Iraq.
Yesterday a leaked report from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (a body that brings together relevant representatives of the security services) was quoted as noting last month that ìevents in Iraq are continuing to act as motivation and a focus of a range of terrorist-related activity in the UK.î
A similar point was made recently in a report from the respected Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), and has been echoed by the Mayor of London. RIIA says: ìThe situation over Iraq has imposed particular difficulties for the UK. It gives a boost to the al-Qaida network’s propaganda, recruitment and fundraising.î
A new ICM opinion survey published by the Guardian confirms the very high level of dissatisfaction among the Islamic community over the Middle East as a whole, with 64% citing Iraq.
The Muslim leaders who met with Tony Blair yesterday, many of whom recognise that they have much to do rebuild links with disaffected youth, made similar points ñ saying that while nothing can justify the atrocities, all contributing factors to the culture that bred the bombers have to be examined.
Ken Livingstone, Londonís Mayor, and outspoken scholar Ghiyasuddin Siddiqui, Director of the Muslim Institute in Britain, also reminded the media that the CIA and Western governments had in the 1980s backed the very muhajideen elements who have now turned against them, including Osama Bin Laden.
Mr Siddiqui, who since 1996 has headed the Muslim Parliament, a major forum for debate, has also gone further than any other spokesperson in calling on Muslims in Britain to end what he calls their ìdenialî about the infiltration of mosques and Islamic centres by extremists who sympathise with the use of violence.
Speaking to a Birmingham Sunni audience on Monday, and to IPS in a subsequent interview, he said that young people were alienated from ìtribalî mosques run by ìold men on the dole.î At present they were not equipped to combat ìthis evil ideologyî.
Those under 30 should comprise 40 per cent of mosque committees, Mr Siddiqui proposed, and thoughtful Muslims should ìreclaim Islam from terrorismî through powerful theological arguments and better run institutions.
But just as British Muslims should ìcome cleanî about their failings, so should the security services said Ghiyasuddin Siddiqui. ìThey must acknowledge they were involved in the training of the earlier generation of ëholy warriorsí,î he declared, referring to the involvement of the CIA and the British secret services in Afghanistan following the 1979 Soviet invasion.
However PM Tony Blair says that associations between the motivation of the London bombers and events in Iraq are ìridiculousî and ìperverted logicî.
Don’t mention the war, says Blair
-20/07/05
The UK government has established a joint task force with British Muslims to look at how to combat extremism among elements of their communities. But in examining root causes, Prime Minister Tony Blair continues to maintain vehemently that there is no connection between the London bombings of 7 July and Western policy in Iraq.
Yesterday a leaked report from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (a body that brings together relevant representatives of the security services) was quoted as noting last month that ‘events in Iraq are continuing to act as motivation and a focus of a range of terrorist-related activity in the UK.’
A similar point was made recently in a report from the respected Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), and has been echoed by the Mayor of London. RIIA says: ‘The situation over Iraq has imposed particular difficulties for the UK. It gives a boost to the al-Qaida network’s propaganda, recruitment and fundraising.’
A new ICM opinion survey published by the Guardian confirms the very high level of dissatisfaction among the Islamic community over the Middle East as a whole, with 64% citing Iraq.
The Muslim leaders who met with Tony Blair yesterday, many of whom recognise that they have much to do rebuild links with disaffected youth, made similar points – saying that while nothing can justify the atrocities, all contributing factors to the culture that bred the bombers have to be examined.
Ken Livingstone, London’s Mayor, and outspoken scholar Ghiyasuddin Siddiqui, Director of the Muslim Institute in Britain, also reminded the media that the CIA and Western governments had in the 1980s backed the very muhajideen elements who have now turned against them, including Osama Bin Laden.
Mr Siddiqui, who since 1996 has headed the Muslim Parliament, a major forum for debate, has also gone further than any other spokesperson in calling on Muslims in Britain to end what he calls their ‘denial’ about the infiltration of mosques and Islamic centres by extremists who sympathise with the use of violence.
Speaking to a Birmingham Sunni audience on Monday, and to IPS in a subsequent interview, he said that young people were alienated from ‘tribal’ mosques run by ‘old men on the dole.’ At present they were not equipped to combat ‘this evil ideology’.
Those under 30 should comprise 40 per cent of mosque committees, Mr Siddiqui proposed, and thoughtful Muslims should ‘reclaim Islam from terrorism’ through powerful theological arguments and better run institutions.
But just as British Muslims should ‘come clean’ about their failings, so should the security services said Ghiyasuddin Siddiqui. ‘They must acknowledge they were involved in the training of the earlier generation of ëholy warriors’,’ he declared, referring to the involvement of the CIA and the British secret services in Afghanistan following the 1979 Soviet invasion.
However PM Tony Blair says that associations between the motivation of the London bombers and events in Iraq are ‘ridiculous’ and ‘perverted logic’.