British Prime Minister Tony Blair has attributed last week’s bombings in London to the Arab-Israeli dispute and lack of democracy in the Middle East. At least 70 people were estimated to have been killed in bombing attacks that gripped London last Thursday, with hundreds more wounded.
According to the Associated Press, Blair told the BBC that precluding terrorist attacks was not necessarily a question of taking preventative security measures. “The underlying problems have to be dealt with,” he said.
"We need to create the circumstances in which some of the critical issues in the Middle East are dealt with and sorted out, and where people can see out there in the Middle East that there is a perfectly good path to democracy if people want to take it," said Blair.
According to some Israeli observers, Blair’s analysis differs from that of the Bush administration which views an all out war on terror combined with preventative security measures in the United States and abroad as the most effective means of combating terrorism. Blair’s comments are significant because they represent a shift in emphasis away from using the military as the primary means of fighting terrorism, as in the war in Iraq and Afganistan, toward a policy that would address the preceived political and economic roots of terrorism.
Some commentators have suggested that Blair’s approach may have been a factor in the decision of the G8 industrialized nations meeting in London to allocate $3 billion in aid to the Palestinian Authority. Uzi Arad, who served as an advisor to Binyamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu was prime minister, said on Israeli radio Sunday morning that the allocation was tantamount to paying “protection money” to terrorists as a means to forestall future attacks.
A group calling itself the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which many analysts believe to be associated with Al Qaeda, took responsibility for the London attacks.
“A group of mujahedeen from a division of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades piled blow after blow on the infidel capital, the British capital, leaving dead and injured,” said the group in a statement posted on the Internet. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
The group, whose connection to Al Qaeda is not clear, according to U.S. officials, cited a number of grievances for carrying out the attack. Reference to the Arab-Israeli dispute appeared third on the list. “We will only calm down when security is a reality in the land of Islam and for Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine,” read the group’s statement.
Statements from Al Qaeda after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York suggested that the United States presence in Saudi Arabia, not the conflict in the Middle East, was the main reason behind the attack.
Abu Hafs al-Masri, which took responsibility for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people were killed, and the twin bombings in Istanbul that killed 25 people in 2003, has promised to carry out more attacks.
"The beginning was in Madrid and in Istanbul. Today, it's London and tomorrow the mujahedeen will express themselves again," read the group’s statement.
According to the Associated Press, Blair told the BBC that precluding terrorist attacks was not necessarily a question of taking preventative security measures. “The underlying problems have to be dealt with,” he said.
"We need to create the circumstances in which some of the critical issues in the Middle East are dealt with and sorted out, and where people can see out there in the Middle East that there is a perfectly good path to democracy if people want to take it," said Blair.
According to some Israeli observers, Blair’s analysis differs from that of the Bush administration which views an all out war on terror combined with preventative security measures in the United States and abroad as the most effective means of combating terrorism. Blair’s comments are significant because they represent a shift in emphasis away from using the military as the primary means of fighting terrorism, as in the war in Iraq and Afganistan, toward a policy that would address the preceived political and economic roots of terrorism.
Some commentators have suggested that Blair’s approach may have been a factor in the decision of the G8 industrialized nations meeting in London to allocate $3 billion in aid to the Palestinian Authority. Uzi Arad, who served as an advisor to Binyamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu was prime minister, said on Israeli radio Sunday morning that the allocation was tantamount to paying “protection money” to terrorists as a means to forestall future attacks.
A group calling itself the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which many analysts believe to be associated with Al Qaeda, took responsibility for the London attacks.
“A group of mujahedeen from a division of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades piled blow after blow on the infidel capital, the British capital, leaving dead and injured,” said the group in a statement posted on the Internet. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
The group, whose connection to Al Qaeda is not clear, according to U.S. officials, cited a number of grievances for carrying out the attack. Reference to the Arab-Israeli dispute appeared third on the list. “We will only calm down when security is a reality in the land of Islam and for Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine,” read the group’s statement.
Statements from Al Qaeda after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York suggested that the United States presence in Saudi Arabia, not the conflict in the Middle East, was the main reason behind the attack.
Abu Hafs al-Masri, which took responsibility for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people were killed, and the twin bombings in Istanbul that killed 25 people in 2003, has promised to carry out more attacks.
"The beginning was in Madrid and in Istanbul. Today, it's London and tomorrow the mujahedeen will express themselves again," read the group’s statement.