Backing U.S in Iraq put UK at risk, think tank says
Mon Jul 18, 2005 07:30 AM ET
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By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - An influential think-tank said on Monday that backing the United States in Iraq put Britain more at risk from terrorist attacks, an accusation forcefully rejected by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.
Security experts said the Iraq war had boosted recruitment and fund-raising for al Qaeda, suspected of being behind London bombings on July 7 that killed 55 people.
The report was issued as Britain's interior minister, Charles Clarke, met opposition party leaders to seek a consensus in drawing up tougher anti-terror legislation, such as outlawing acts preparing or inciting acts of terrorism.
Police probing the London underground train and bus attacks say they have found no indication the bombs carried timers. That would mean they were manually detonated by the four bombers, caught on CCTV camera heading off on their deadly mission.
The report from the respected Royal Institute of International Affairs said Britain had suffered by playing "pillion passenger" to Washington.
"The UK is at particular risk because it is the closest ally of the United States," said security experts Frank Gregory and Paul Wilkinson.
The report provoked a strikingly robust rebuttal.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "The time for excuses for terrorism is over. The terrorists have struck across the world, in countries allied with the United States, backing the war in Iraq, and in countries which had nothing whatever to do with the war in Iraq.
"They struck in Kenya, in Tanzania, in Indonesia, in the Yemen, they struck this weekend in Turkey which was not supporting our action in Iraq."
THREAT UNDERESTIMATED
Blair, whose trust ratings plummeted due to the Iraq conflict, has always refuted the notion that Britain's role in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has made the country less safe
