Arab regimes facing risk of breeding Gen Next of Muslim extremists: Cameron

KUWAIT CITY - British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned Arab regimes that they face the risk of breeding a new generation of Muslim extremists if they continue to maintain an iron grip on their respective populations.

Cameron, who is currently visiting Kuwait, appealed to Arab governments to do more to tackle the simmering discontent that fuels Islamic fanaticism and terrorism.

Following the wave of protests that have swept across North Africa and the Gulf, he made clear that blocking the yearning for democracy and freedom risked making angry Muslim youth ripe for recruitment by Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

“History is sweeping through your neighbourhood,” the Daily Express quoted him, as telling senior Kuwaiti politicians in a keynote speech yesterday.

He added: “Across the Arab world, aspirations are stirring which have lain dormant.”

Cameron also took a swipe at previous British governments for cosying up to Arab dictatorships in the mistaken hope of maintaining stability in the Middle East.

Echoing his recent controversial speech, which partly blamed failed multi-cultural policies in Britain and other European nations for fuelling extremism, Cameron said tyrannic rule in many Arab countries was also at fault.

“We cannot ignore the threat to all our countries from international terrorism. I believe this is the most important global threat to our security,” Cameron said.

Isolated young Muslim men were more “prone to the poisonous narrative of separateness and victimhood that can lead to extremism,” he said, and warned Arab nations to address the issue sooner than later.

On the issue of whether “Arabs or Muslims can’t do democracy”, Cameron said: “For me that borders on racism. It’s offensive and wrong and it’s simply not true.” (ANI)