Blair warned of al-Qaeda threat

2006-07-02 07:39

London - Prime Minister Tony Blair must do more to resolve global conflicts that feed Islamist radicalism as Britain faces extremely serious threats from al-Qaeda, lawmakers said on Sunday.

Parliament's influential Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report the situation in Iraq had provided a source of propaganda and a training ground for terrorists, a view Blair has dismissed in the past.

The lawmakers said international conflicts, such as the standoff in the Middle East, breed feelings of injustice in the Muslim world which can boost support for terrorism.

"Although the United Kingdom and its allies recognise this, and are working to resolve these conflicts, they are putting insufficient effort and funding into countering terrorist propaganda," said the cross-party committee.

"Much greater effort needs to be made to communicate effectively with the Arab and Islamic world to bridge the gulf of mistrust that feeds into international terrorism," added the committee which heard evidence from politicians, academics and diplomats.

Almost a year after four British Islamists killed 52 commuters in suicide bombings in London, many community leaders say Blair's decision to side with US President George W Bush in Iraq has provided fertile ground for Islamist radicalism.

Blair argues militants use situations like Iraq as an excuse to commit atrocities.

The committee also highlighted what it described as a worrying deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan and said there were signs that tactics which brought devastation to Iraq were being replicated there.

Afghanistan is experiencing an escalation of violence by Islamists before Nato troops take over the volatile and lawless south from US forces.

The committee said the government should set out what it is doing to prevent a further deterioration and that it must clarify the role of British troops there to avoid a blurring of the UK's counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics aims.

Britain has about 3 300 troops stationed in the South.

Despite a number of successes targeting the leadership and infrastructure of al-Qaeda, the danger of global terrorism may well have increased, said the committee, adding that the group's fragmentation made it more difficult to combat.

"Al Qaeda continues to pose an extremely serious and brutal threat to the United Kingdom," said the report.

- Reuters