London, UK, February 21 2007 – Today's announcement by Prime Minister Tony Blair that 1,600 troops will return from Iraq in the next few months cannot hide the colonialist foreign policy of Britain towards the Muslim world.


Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "Today's announcement of a troop reduction is a face saving measure by Blair following the international outcry over the deaths of over 650,000 civilians and the chaos that Iraq has descended into. Despite this announcement, Blair continues to defend the Iraq war, denies that the occupation has caused instability in the region and refuses to accept the extent of civilian casualties caused by the occupation."

"Blair argues that the success of Operation Sinbad allows this reduction in troops when in fact the situation in southern Iraq remains dire. We are told that the situation in Basra is much better than that in Baghdad, as if the Baghdad quagmire were some sort of yardstick for political stability."

"It is Blair and his allies who created sectarian conflict in Iraq when there was none, staged sham elections and brought anarchy to Iraq. The Middle East continues to suffer the consequences of over a century of colonialist intervention that has propped up dictators, denied people their own political authority and occupied lands. There is nothing that Western governments can offer to help the situation other than immediately ending the illegal occupation of Iraq and their continued interference in the Muslim world."

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