As the death toll from last week's London terrorist bombings has risen to 55 British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called on the world to confront what he called an evil ideology.
Mr. Blair told a Labor Party conference what the world is facing is not a clash of civilizations, but what he called a global struggle, a battle of ideas both within Islam and outside it. He warned that the greatest danger now is that the world will fail to face up to the issue.
Meanwhile, the families of two of the suspected London suicide bombers 30-year old Sidique Kahn and 18-year-old Hasib Hussaib expressed sympathy to the victims' families, and condemned such terrorism. One of the families said they believed their son had been "brainwashed" by terrorists.
Britain's top Muslim leaders have condemned the mass killings of innocent civilians as a violation of the Koran and said perpetrators cannot be considered martyrs.
British officials have also outlined proposed counter-terrorism laws aimed at making it easier to convict suspects planning attacks.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
