UK denies its foreign policy is anti-Islamic

LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) Britain denied today that its foreign policy was ''anti-Islamic'' following accusations that its stance had heightened the threat from terrorism.

British police are holding 23 people as they investigate a suspected plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic, 13 months after British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transport network.

Muslim groups and politicians told Prime Minister Tony Blair last week his policies on Iraq and the Israel-Hizbollah war were putting civilians at increased risk in Britain and elsewhere. In an open letter, they urged Blair to change his foreign policy.

Foreign Office Minister David Triesman insisted today that ''British foreign policy is not 'anti-Islamic'''.

''There will always be controversial aspects of British foreign policy, which extremists can use as ammunition to fuel hatred ...

They seek to portray a clash between incompatible cultures in order to perpetuate suspicion, hatred and violence,'' he said in a statement.

Triesman said London wanted a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on a two-state solution.

Blair has been sharply criticised by many Britons, including some politicians from his own Labour Party, for his initial refusal to call for an immediate halt to the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and his strong support for the US over the Iraq war.

Triesman said Britain had pushed hard for a ''sustainable ceasefire'' in Lebanon because the people of Lebanon and Israel ''deserve the real peace of a lasting solution and not just a temporary, fragile reprieve''.

''Our commitment to helping the people of Iraq and Afghanistan achieve a better future is worthy of support, whether or not you agreed with our interventions in the first place,'' he said.

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