British Muslims accuse Blair of fuelling extremism

The British government's foreign policy in Iraq and Israel has inflamed extremists, jeopardizing the safety ofits citizens at home and abroad, prominent Muslims in Britain said Saturday.

The accusations came in an open letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, published in several of the country's newspapers. It was signed by four Muslim MPs and 38 organizations, including the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain.

"As British Muslims we urge you to do more to fight against all those who target civilians with violence, whenever and wherever that happens," the letter says. "It is our view that current British government policy risks putting civilians at increased risk both in the U.K. and abroad.

"The debacle of Iraq and the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to the attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region, it is also ammunition to extremists who threaten us all."

British authorities Thursday detailed an alleged plot involving as many as 10 commercial flights and liquid explosives. The Bank of England froze the assets of 19 suspects, with police holding them and four others for questioning. Most of the suspects were reported to be British-born Muslims.

The alleged plot was condemned by the signatories of the open letter.

Security jeopardized

Blair's reluctance to criticize Israel for attacks that have killed Lebanese civilians in the last month will only further jeopardize Britain's security, Labour MP Sadiq Khan told the Guardian newspaper.

"We simply cannot ignore the fact that our country's foreign policy is being used by charismatic [figures] to tell British Muslims that their country hates them," Khan said.

"Current policy on the Middle East is seen by almost everyone I speak to as unfair and unjust. Such a sense of injustice plays into the hands of extremists."

A spokesperson for the government dismissed the charges.

"Al-Qaeda starting killing innocent civilians in the '90s," the spokesperson told the Guardian. "It killed Muslim civilians even before 9/11, and the attacks on New York and Washington killed over 3,000 people before Iraq. To imply al-Qaeda is driven by an honest disagreement over foreign policy is a mistake."