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August 28, 2005
Did Blair Ignore Warnings of Muslim Anger Over Iraq?
Greg Hurst, Political Correspondent for The Times Online, reported August 29, 2005 [London Time] that "attempts by [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair to deny a link between the occupation of Iraq and last months London bombings were further undermined yesterday [August 28, 2005] by the leak of a letter by a top diplomat." Mr. Hurst wrote:Correspondence was published showing that Sir Michael Jay, head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, gave warning a year earlier that Britain's foreign policy was a key factor in recruitment by extremist organizations. He cited disillusion among Muslims over Britain's position on Iraq and the Middle East peace process as a recurring theme in the Muslim community.
Sir Michael's warning was set out in a letter in May last year to Sir Andrew Turnbull, the outgoing Cabinet Secretary, in which he said Britain was now being seen among Muslims as a crusader state alongside America. He noted that, "A copy was published yesterday [August 28, 2005] by The Observer, which said that his references to Iraq were removed from core scripts, or briefing papers, circulated to Ministers summarizing the Governments position on Iraq and terrorism." For more, see "Blair warned of extremist threat from his policy on Middle East."
Posted by Munir Umrani at August 28, 2005 07:49 PM
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