Author:
Publication: Afternoon Despatch
& Courier
Date: October 9, 2001
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
has reiterated that the US-led military action in Afghanistan is not targetted
at the Islamic world. "This is not a war against Muslims, but against terrorists.
We don't want revenge. We want justice," Blair told the Al Jazeera satellite
TV channel yesterday.
Blair, whose comments were simultaneously
translated into Arabic, on the Qatar-based channel, said Laden's Al-Qaeda
network posed a big threat to moderate Arab states as much as it did to
the West. "This is not about the West versus Islam. Decent Muslims, millions
of them in European countries have condemned these acts of terrorism in
the US with every bit as much force as any of the rest of us," he said.
After recording the interview, Blair
met 21 religious leaders including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Jews. Later
addressing an emergency session of parliament, Blair said Britain was involved
in military action in Afghanistan "for the long haul" as he confirmed that
a fresh wave of attacks had been launched.
Referring to the first wave of the
US-led attacks, in which British forces participated, Blair said indications
were that they have been "successful in achieving their objectives of degrading
element of the Al-Qaeda terrorist facilities and the Taliban military apparatus".
