Def iant Blair rounds on critics who blame Iraq war for London

TONY Blair has insisted that last week's terrorist bombings in London were not motivated by revenge for Britain's role in the invasion of Iraq.

The Prime Minister, under increasing pressure to admit that his decision to support the US in ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein led to the attacks, said the bombers were driven by an "evil ideology" rather than opposition to his policy.

Speaking at a meeting of Labour's national policy forum yesterday, Blair told an audience of party activists it would be a "misunderstanding of a catastrophic order" to think that if we changed our behaviour, they would change theirs.

He said: "If it is Iraq that motivates them, why is the same ideology killing Iraqis by terror in defiance of an elected Iraqi government?

"What was September 11, 2001, the reprisal for? Why, if it is the cause of Muslims that concerns them, do they kill so many with such callous indifference?"

He added: "We must pull this up by the roots. Within Britain we must join up with our Muslim community to take on the extremists. Worldwide, we should confront it everywhere it exists."

In the days following the bombings in London - which have so far left 55 dead - Downing Street produced a list of other atrocities committed around the world to underline its point that terrorism is a worldwide problem that predates Iraq and Afghanistan.

But, as it emerged that three British soldiers were killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb, opposition politicians and senior figures from within the Labour Party broke ranks to argue that there was a link between the conflict and the terrorist atrocities which struck at the heart of London.

In a pre-recorded interview to be screened this morning on GMTV's Sunday programme, former Cabinet minister Clare Short will say she "had no doubt" the bombings in the capital were linked to Iraq.

The ex-international development secretary will also warn that new anti-terrorism legislation would act as a recruiting sergeant for fanatics.

"Some of the voices that have been coming from the government talk as though this is all evil, and that everything we do is fine, when in fact we are implicit in the slaughter of large numbers of civilians in Iraq and supporting a Middle East policy that for the Palestinians creates this sense of double standards; that feeds anger."

The backbench MP John McDonnell said yesterday that it was "intellectually unsustainable" to claim that Iraq played no part. Addressing the Labour Representation Committee conference in London, the MP for Hayes and Harlington said: "To frame an effective response to this terrorist attack, we must be ruthlessly honest. And so I say to the Prime Minister and other ministerial commentators:

please do not try to tell us that the war in Iraq played no part. That assertion is simply intellectually unsustainable."

McDonnell also called for a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq.

Writing in the Sunday Herald today, SNP leader Alex Salmond condemns as "ridiculous" the argument that the war in Iraq had no role in the London bombings. He writes:

"It may not be the only factor, but to claim that it is irrelevant flies in the face of reality . . .

"Just as the Madrid bombers were inspired by Abu Musab al- Zarqawi (al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq) so will we probably find that the London bombers were drawn into this madness on the back of propaganda largely about the Iraq conflict."

Faz Hakim, a former Downing Street adviser on race, said last night Iraq had contributed towards the sense of alienation among some Muslims.

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