Report: UK 'at risk' over Iraq war

[David]

LONDON, England (AP) -- Britain's close alliance with the United States and involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left it at particular risk of terrorist attack, according to a report published Monday by two leading think tanks.

The Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, and the Economic and Social Research Council also said the situation in Iraq had given "a boost to the al Qaeda network's propaganda, recruitment and fund-raising" and provided an ideal training ground for al Qaeda-linked terrorists.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has rejected suggestions that the July 7 London bombings on three underground trains and a bus, which killed at least 55 people, were related to Britain's support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"The UK is at particular risk because it is the closest ally of the United States, has deployed armed forces in the military campaigns to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and has taken a leading role in international intelligence, police and judicial cooperation against al Qaeda and in efforts to suppress its finances," said the report, titled "Security, Terrorism and the UK."

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw slammed the report.

"I'm astonished that Chatham House is now saying that we should not have stood shoulder to shoulder with our long-standing allies in the United States," Straw said in Brussels before chairing a European Union foreign ministers meeting.

"The time for excuses for terrorism is over," Straw added. "The terrorists have struck across the world, in countries allied with the United States, backing the war in Iraq and in countries which had nothing whatever to do with the war in Iraq."

The report said Britain's counter terrorism policy, in particular trying to address the root causes of terrorism and using intelligence to disrupt and apprehend terrorists, had been hampered by its junior partnership with the United States.

It said the government "had been conducting counter terrorism policy 'should to shoulder' with the United States, not in the sense of being an equal decision maker, but rather as pillion passenger compelled to leave the steering to the ally in the driving seat.

"There is no doubt that the situation over Iraq has imposed particular difficulties for the UK, and for the wider coalition against terrorism."

As well as being used as a propaganda tool by al Qaeda, the Iraq war had "deflected resources and assistance that could have been deployed to assist" Afghan President Hamid Karzai and to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

Blair's government, which committed UK forces to the Iraq war despite widespread public opposition, is sensitive to suggestions that its involvement in the conflict has heightened the threat of terrorist attack.

Last week, Blair's office published a list of worldwide terrorist attacks dating back more than a decade, to put the London bombings in context.

Blair has stressed that Islamic extremists have targeted dozens of countries, including Spain, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Yemen, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco and that such attacks are "aimed at our way of life, not at any particular government or policy."