The former British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced at a press conference that Saudi Arabia, with its vast oil wealth, is promoting an extremist view of Islam.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and during the Yalta European Strategy Conference (YES) in Ukraine hosted by CNN presenter Farid Zakaria that Saudi Arabia, with its vast oil wealth, was promoting a vision which is extremist, fundamental, old and completely backward from Islam.
Mr Blair described the 9/11 attacks as a “turning point” in the world. He said: These attacks caused great anxiety in the world because they (the United States) did not know if more attacks were coming.
The former British Prime Minister also claimed that they closed the country’s airspace and related infrastructure for fear of similar attacks on Britain.
Blair went on to say that the first decision was to stand with the United States and that the United States should not face this issue alone, and that this was a new stage in politics.
Asked by Farid Zakaria about Saudi Arabia as an important ally for the West, he said Western leaders were not fully aware of the roots of the new threat.
With that vast oil wealth, Saudi Arabia finances the “Islamist” ideology that is different from Islam itself, Blair said, adding that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports a very conservative, old-fashioned view of religion.
He, meanwhile, refused to acknowledge that Saudi rulers support terrorism.
Blair said: “The problem with Saudi-backed education cannot be solved by security tools alone.”
In the end, he said: The Americans decided to leave Afghanistan because they realized that the enemy they were fighting there would not surrender even after 20 years.
The former British Prime Minister added: The Americans could not wait any longer because they were waging an endless war.