British ME policy key factor in Muslim extremism

ALONDON—British foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, is a “key contributory factor” in pushing some members of the country’s Muslim population towards extremism, an official report concluded Thursday.
The Home Office set up a series of working groups in the wake of the July 7 attacks in London that killed 56 people, including the four apparent suicide bombers, all of whom were British citizens.
The groups’ final report stated that “radical impulses” among the Muslim community were often triggered by “perceptions of injustice in western foreign policy”.
“British foreign policy — especially in the Middle East — cannot be left unconsidered as a factor in the motivations of criminal radical extremists,” the document said.
“We believe it is a key contributory factor. The (British) government should learn from the impact of its foreign policies on its electors.” The working groups — who also expressed concerns about some of the government’s proposed anti-terrorism legislation — stressed that despitethe criticism “we are absolutely clear that there is no foreign policy issue which can justify acts of terror”. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government have vehemently rejected any links between British foreign policy, notably London’s backing for the Iraq war, and the July 7 attacks or any rise in extremism.
But earlier this week, Sir Christopher Meyer, the country’s former ambassador to Washington and a key adviser in the run-up to the March 2003 military action against Saddam Hussein, argued differently.
He told the Guardian newspaper that British involvement in the US-led war had “partly radicalised and fuelled” the rise of home-grown terrorism and strengthened the resolve of Iraqi insurgents.
“There is no way we can credibly get up and say it has nothing to do with it,” he stated. The working groups’ report, compiled by seven committees after months of consultation with ethnic minority groups around the country, stressed that criticism of British foreign policy should not be seen as a sign of disloyalty.
“Peaceful disagreement is a sign of a healthy democracy,” the group said. “Dissent should not be conflated with ‘terrorism’, ‘violence’ or deemed inimical to British values.”
Other measures recommended in the report include setting up a British Islam website aimed at young Muslims and containing a “wide range of views and opinions” to counter the glut of extremist views circulating on the web.—Agencies