We stand with you: Blair

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, SEPT. 12. Britain today declared its full support for any U.S. response to Tuesday's numbing terrorist attacks in New York and Washington saying it was not an attack just on America but on the ``free world as a whole''. In a stark warning, the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair said while America might have been singled out there was no doubt that terrorists ``regard all of us as targets''.

Mr. Blair said it would not be wise at this stage to speculate on the nature of U.S. response or the kind of support Washington might seek from its allies but ``we stand with USA on this''. What happened yesterday had consequences ``right round the world'' and the international community as a whole should consider the nature of the groups behind such acts, how they were financed, how they operated and how they should be defeated, he said.

He called for a concerted worldwide effort to identify and ``dismantle'' the forces of terrorism, but avoided a direct response to a question whether Britain would advocate a ``coalition'' of the kind formed by Western powers against Iraq in the Nineties. He declined to be drawn into specifics but made clear that Britain would stand ``shoulder to shoulder'' with the U.S. in dealing with terrorism. This was in line with his statement on Tuesday that it was ``not a battle between the United States and terrorism but between the free and democratic world and terrorism.''

Mr. Blair said he had spoken to European leaders and all agreed that this was not only an attack on America but on the democratic world itself. He said he was happy to see a strong condemnation from the Muslim Council of Britain and other Muslim groups who believed that such acts were ``wholly contrary'' to the principles of Islam. In response to a question at a press conference, he sought to play down the denominational aspect of international terrorism and emphasised that the issue should not be seen as one between a particular religion and terrorism. The issue was terrorism versus the rest of the world, including Muslims.

His remarks, after a high-level meeting with his Ministers and experts, came as Britain and its interests across the world were put on high alert amid fears that as one of the closest allies of the U.S. it faced a potential threat. Terrorist experts were quoted as saying that Britain could be a target because of its association with the U.S. and the U.S.-led assaults on Iraq.

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Section  : International
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