"We are implicit in the slaughter of large numbers of civilians in Iraq ," Short said.

LONDON, July 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Former British cabinet minister Clare Short said Sunday, July 17, she "had no doubt" the London bombings were linked to Britain's role in the US-led invasion-turned-occupation of Iraq, warning that news anti-terror laws would only recruit more extremists.

"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," Short said in an interview to be broadcast on the GMTV television program later in the day, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"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," she stressed.

Short, the former international development secretary who resigned over the Iraq invasion, has frequently accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of misleading the British over the threat posed by ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Speaking at a Labour Party conference in London on Saturday, July 16, Blair strongly rejected links between the July 7 London bombings, which killed at least 55 people including four attackers, and his decision to take Britain to war in Iraq .

While condemning the attacks as "absolutely un-Islamic", senior British Muslim scholars also criticized economic deprivation, social exclusion and faulty foreign policy.

David Clark, a former Labour government adviser, wrote in the Guardian on July 9, that the world cannot defeat terrorism "until we are ready to take legitimate Arab grievances seriously."

“Cost of War”

Greenstock branded the Iraq war as "politically illegitimate".

In his new book, The Cost of War, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, London 's ambassador to the United Nations during the run-up to the 2003 invasion, brands the Iraq invasion as "politically illegitimate".

He charges that UN negotiations "never rose over the level of awkward diversion for the US administration," reported The Observer Sunday, citing excerpts of the new book, which the government has moved to block.

Greenstock also writes that while "honorable decisions" were made to remove Saddam, the opportunities of the post-conflict period were wasted by "poor policy analysis and narrow-minded execution."

The Observer said the book is being held up by Blair's office and the Foreign Office, which have asked Greenstock, who was also Blair's special representative to Iraq in the aftermath of the war, to strike out a number of passages.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "Civil service regulations which apply to all members of the diplomatic service require that any retired officials must obtain clearance in respect of any publication in relation to their service.

"Sir Jeremy Greenstock's proposed book is being dealt with under this procedure."

Anti-Terror Law

Short also warned in the same interview that mooted new anti-terror laws would act as a recruiting agent for extremists.

Britain 's government was preparing Sunday to introduce new legislations to combat terrorism, reported AFP.

Ten days after the London blasts opposition politicians further revealed they were being consulted about the new laws.

Interior Minister Charles Clarke was scheduled to meet his opposition counterparts on Monday, July 18, to discuss proposed offences such as indirectly inciting terrorism, for example preachers who praise bombers and incite hatred.

David Davis, home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, praised the government approach.

"Many of us have worried for years as to why it is we seem to have people allowed into our country or living in our country who are able to say things which most of us would think to be disgraceful and incitements to violence and killing," he told BBC television.

Blair has vowed to crack down hard on hatred-inciting preachers.