Blair's mistaken view of Islam could start new religious war, says his former aide

Tony Blair's view that religious extremism lies at the heart of the Middle East crisis was dismissed last night by his former chief of staff.

Jonathan Powell said Mr Blair was wrong to blame the region’s problems on tensions within Islam. He even suggested that his old boss’s mistaken analysis could lead to a ‘21st Century version’ of a religious war.

Mr Blair has highlighted the dangers of religious extremism provoking conflicts in regions such as the Middle East and has urged people to realise there is a ‘problem within Islam’.

 

Tony Blair walks alongside Jonathan Powell, his chief of staff at the time, who says his former boss's view of Islam could start a new religious war

But Mr Powell, one of the former premier’s most loyal lieutenants during his time in No 10, said: ‘I see it from a different angle. He [Blair] argues that this is a new phenomenon we are facing. I don’t accept that.’

In an interview with Total Politics magazine, Mr Powell said: ‘What Tony Blair is trying to do is to look at it from the inter-faith point of view, which is something beyond me.

‘The danger is that you can end up framing these conflicts in ideological terms and return to the religious wars of the 16th Century in Europe. You don’t want to let this Sunni / Shia divide turn into a 21st Century version of the Thirty Years’ War.