UK and Pakistan take turns blaming each other for 7/7

Last week Jack Straw criticized the religious schools in Pakistan, suggesting that their radicalism led to the bombings in London and over the weekend Munir Akram, Pakistan's UN ambassador responded by raising the issue of exclusion and racism in the UK and the inability to bring the Muslim community in to the mainstream in the UK.

Both sides are raising valid points and it's about time that everyone gets a lot more serious about these problems. Sure, there are plenty of radical madrassas in the Muslim world and something needs to be done but as an outsider myself in Europe, I'm quite aware of the rigid seperations that exist. While the UK seems to be more advanced than the continent with integration, Europe as a whole is struggling with this issue which is going to increasingly be a problem until someone takes action.

So far I've been a bit surprised with the choice of words that UK officials, Tony Blair included, have used and wish that we could see something more constructive and serious. It's high time everyone is brought in to the fold so the extremists no longer have such fertile ground for recruiting but this means a lot of hard work for both sides.