Islamic communities representatives meet with British officials on Iraq

The British Ministry of the Interior on Monday summoned the representatives of the Islamic community in Britain and discussed with them the reasons that pushed Britain to take part in the military strikes on Iraq.

A spokesman for the ministry said that the Muslim community representatives expressed concern over British policy on Iraq. The spokesman quoted some of those representatives as saying that the British-US attack against Iraq has caused a setback in the relations between Britain and the Islamic countries.

He said the representatives stressed that Britain's participation in the military strikes against Iraq has distorted or rather destroyed the British image in the Islamic world.

The opposition British Conservative Party on Monday criticized the policy pursued by the British Labor Party in dealing with the Iraqi crisis, saying, "The recent military acts against Iraq did not find the appropriate solutions for the Gulf crisis."

In a statement to the BBC, a spokesman for the Conservative Party said there is a concern in the party's ranks over the continued Iraq situation and the presence of the British troops for long years vulnerable to danger in the Gulf region. The spokesman added that the British and US governments should reconsider a long-sighted strategy to find a solution to the crisis in the Gulf region.