The following are excerpts from an interview with Abd Al-Bari Atwa, editor-in-chief of the London Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi

Atwan: There is no doubt that Tony Blair, the prime minister of Britain, got a good slap from these explosions. Tony Blair was at the height of glory up to the last moments before these explosions. When I say the height of glory, I mean that he succeeded in ensuring that London, the capital of Britain, will host the Olympics, and likewise he was reclining in his seat as the head of the G8 summit. In addition, he began his term as leader of the European Union. Through these achievements, the man wanted to cover up the big failure incurred by the British and American policy in Iraq. These explosions came and blew up everything. They prove that the war Blair and Bush waged against terrorism, on which they have spent about 250 billion dollars, in addition to the killing of some 2000 British soldiers and 100,000 Iraqi citizens – this war up till now has not been successful. If the Al-Qaeda organization is really behind these explosions, this proves that it has reorganized its ranks, succeeded in recruiting new expertise, and reaching the heart of the European capitals – Britain following Madrid, and maybe in the future – Washington or New York.