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Blair criticises Muslim leaders for "inaction"

Hasan Suroor

Community elders express disappointment with statement

LONDON: British Prime Minister Tony Blair was on Wednesday involved in an extraordinary public spat with leading Muslim figures of his own party after he criticised the Muslim leadership of not doing enough to check extremism.

In his most outspoken public attack on Muslim leaders, Mr. Blair said too many Muslims gave the impression that they sympathised with the perceived grievances of extremists. He said such an attitude was not likely to help defeat the ideas that gave rise to extremism.

Mr. Blair, who was speaking before the Commons' high-power Liaison Committee, urged Muslim leaders to "stand up'' and tell their fellow religionists that their sense of grievance against the West was "wrong.'' The Government alone could not fight extremism and ultimately it was for community leaders to set their own house in order.

"I am not the person to go into the Muslim community and explain to them in that this extreme view is not the true face of Islam. People should stand up and say: `You are wrong in your view about the West. You are wrong in your sense of grievance. The whole ideology is profoundly wrong','' he said.

Probe rejected

Mr. Blair rejected the demand of Muslim groups for an independent inquiry into the July 7 London bombings and denied allegations of intelligence failures in the run-up to the attacks which claimed 52 lives and left hundreds injured and traumatised.

Mr. Blair's use of strong words to express his disappointment with Muslim leaders' role in fighting extremist ideas provoked a sharp reaction from his own party's Muslim MPs — and many pro-Labour Islamic groups. They said they were disillusioned with Mr. Blair's approach to building bridges with the 1.6 million-strong Muslim community.

The sharpest attack came from Sadiq Khan, a prominent Labour MP, who said that many of the recommendations made by a Muslim task force set up by the Government after the July 7 bombings had not been acted upon. He accused Mr. Blair of behaving like the "grand old Duke of York... marching all these talented British Muslims up the hill of consultation and dialogue, only to march them down again.''

Mr. Blair was also criticised by the Labour peers Lord Ahmed and Baroness Uddin.

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