Saudi Arabia is propagating an extremist view of Islam.

Saudi Arabia is propagating 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. It is extremist, fundamental, old and completely backward from Islam.

Mr Blair described the 9/11 attacks as a “turning point” in the world. “These attacks caused a great deal of anxiety in the world because they (the United States) did not know if more attacks were coming,” he said.

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 by the United States and that the United States should not face this 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.

Mr Blair emphasized the need to focus on Saudi Arabia, and said that it was even more important now with the crisis over oil prices.

He, meanwhile, refused to acknowledge that Saudi rulers support terrorism.

“The problem with Saudi-backed education cannot be solved by security tools alone,” Blair said.

“The Americans decided to leave Afghanistan because they realized that the enemy they were fighting there would not surrender even after 20 years,” he concluded.

The former British Prime Minister added: “The Americans could not wait any longer because they were waging an endless war.