British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday he is ”anxious” for Pakistani authorities to crack down on hard-line Islamic schools, which some of the London bombers are thought to have attended.
Britain has been working with the Pakistani government to take measures against madrassas, or seminaries, that might teach extremist views, Blair told reporters in London.
He and his government are ”very anxious to make sure that the measures are taken that do deal with the extremist teaching in these places”, the prime minister said.
”And I am sure that is in the interest of Pakistan as well, because Pakistan suffers from these terrorists,” he added.
Three of the four suspected suicide bombers who set off blasts on subway trains and a bus in London on July 7, in which at least 56 people died, were British Muslims of Pakistani origin.
According to immigration authorities in Pakistan, Shahzad Tanweer (22) and Mohammed Sidique Khan (30) arrived together at Karachi airport last November and left in February this year.
A third presumed bomber, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain, arrived last July via Saudi Arabia, but his point of departure has not been established.
Blair, speaking at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said he has spoken to Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf about the issue of the madrassas.
”It is important, and I know that the Pakistani government believes this, that steps are taken to try to root out those things that are giving rise to this extremism,” Blair said.
”These roots are deep, they are coming about by people indoctrinated at a very, very early age often,” he continued.
”They go to some of these schools, these madrassas, and they get extreme teaching taught to them. They end up in a situation where they actually believe that they are committing the rule of God by killing innocent people.” — Sapa-AFP