Muslim leaders wants UK to adopt 'principled' foreign policy
Regional-UK, Politics, 8/18/2006

The Muslim community is asking for a serious debate over its criticism of British foreign policy with the government rather than claims by ministers that it is appeasing terrorism, according to Muslim Council of Britain secretary general Muhammad Abdul Bari.

"I yearn for a foreign policy that engenders a feeling of pride among this and future generations, and attracts respect from others," Bari said Thursday.

He said Muslims want a foreign policy to include that when difficult decisions are made, 'we must be ready to tackle the consequences that ensue' and that these decisions are 'principled and be seen to be so'.

The MCB secretary general was referring to an open letter he and other prominent Muslim wrote last week to Tony Blair urging the prime minister not to ignore the effects of his foreign policies in endangering the lives of civilians in the UK and abroad.

"The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to attacks on civilians in the Middle East only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region," the letter said.

In an article published in the Guardian Thursday, Bari said that the foreign policies of successive governments, including the refusal to call for a ceasefire in Lebanon, "left many Muslims and others feeling aggrieved and powerless."

He castigated the 'deliberate' misinterpretation by ministers to claim that the call suggested a 'willingness among Muslim leaders to excuse violence and promote a simplified view of how extremism takes root'.

"The letter articulated the need to base foreign policy on principle. It condemned attacks on civilians wherever they take place," the MCB leader said.

"It also sought acknowledgment that, though the causes and motivations are complex, British foreign policy contributes to the radicalization of Muslims here and elsewhere," he said.

On Wednesday, Labor MP Sadiq Khan, another signatory of the letter, also criticized attempts to distort the call for a change in British foreign policy to be more evenhanded.

"The fact that such attempts at honest and serious analysis 'will be interpreted by the mendacious and malicious' as proof of Muslim support for terrorists must not stop us from attempting such sober analysis," he said.

Khan suggested that it would be better to expose the distortions in foreign policy rather than repeat and only then would there be a serious debate about "foreign policy on its merits."

Previous Stories:
  UK foreign policy denies blame for terrorism   (8/16/2006)
  UK warned against following US in profiling Muslim passengers   (8/16/2006)
  On the UK plane bombing plot   (8/16/2006)

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