Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in an interview with The Times that he felt "a degree of compassion" for young Palestinian suicide bombers, a day after one blew himself up on a bus in southern Jerusalem, killing 19 people.
"When young people go to their deaths, we can all feel a degree of compassion for those youngsters," Straw told the daily Wednesday. "They must be so depressed and misguided to do this," he added.
His comments contrasted starkly to those he made Tuesday following the blast, when he condemned the attack as "evil beyond words". "I am appalled by this despicable attack in which so many have lost their lives," he had said.
Straw's change of tone would appear to be in support of Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who on Tuesday was forced into a public apology for saying that young Palestinians felt they had no choice but to blow themselves up.
In his interview with The Times, Straw attacked the godfathers who were sending the young Palestinians to their deaths. He said that behind the bombers, there were "some very evil and unpleasant terrorist leaders who do not put their own lives on the line when they are making sure that others' lives are ended." (Albawaba.com)
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