Tony Blair has called on the UK to do “everything we can” to support French military operations in Mali, reports The Independent.
Failure to tackle the rebels will make it a haven for extremism that will have repercussions on the shores of Europe, the former prime minister warned today.
Britain has sent two C-17 transport planes to Mali to support French forces fighting rebels with links to al-Qa'ida who are attempting to overthrow the west African nation's government.
The UK Government is considering increasing logistical support for the military campaign but Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the UK is "not seeking a combat role".
"If you don't intervene and you let these countries become terrorist states they will threaten the rest of the world," Mr Blair told Sky News.
"If Mali is allowed to be taken over by these people, don't be under any doubt what will happen. That country will become a haven for this extremism, it will spread into sub-Saharan Africa, it will go back through the north of Africa."
"It will, in the end, come to the shores of Europe and the West."
Read more of this PA report published by The Independent.
See also:
Don't mention 'the war': the semantic battle of the French campaign in Mali