Prime Minister Tony Blair today challenged moderate Muslim leaders to speak out more against extremists within their communities.
He insisted there must be a "fundamental" debate where potential terrorists' ideology and their sense of grievance against the West must be tackled just as much as their methods.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
And he said there was an impression Muslim leaders sympathised with extremists' grievances but disagreed with their actions.
The premier spoke out in the run-up to the anniversary of the July 7 London bombings, in an evidence session before the Commons Liaison Committee, made up of chairs of other MPs' select committees.
His comments also followed a complaint from Muslim Labour MP Sadiq Khan last night that those involved with Government-sponsored Muslim working groups were now disillusioned with ministers.
Mr Blair's comments provoked a backlash with Mohammed Shafiq, of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Manchester-based group that works with young people in a bid to tackle extremism and terrorism, accusing him of failing to engage with ordinary young Muslims.
The British Prime Minister told the MPs: "The Government has its role to play in this, but, honestly, the Government itself is not going to defeat this.
"If we want to defeat the extremism, we have got to defeat its ideas and we have got to address the completely false sense of grievance against the West."
Mr Blair added: "In the end, Government itself cannot go and root out the extremism in these communities.
"I am not the person to go into the Muslim community and explain to them that this extreme view is not the true face of Islam.
"People should stand up and not merely say, 'You are wrong (but) you are wrong in your view about the West, you are wrong in your sense of grievance, the whole ideology is profoundly wrong'.
However, Mohammed Shafiq insisted that Muslim leaders had actively tried to engage with the Government.
"This is the problem with the Prime Minister. He makes these political statements but the people he is meeting are self-appointed and Labour Party members and supporters.
"People like us, who work on the ground, were not even invited. Young people do not have a platform. "There is no strategic drive behind tackling these issues — just short-term announcements."
Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, added "Extremist ideas can either thrive or fail to catch on, depending upon the political climate.
"The fact is that many Muslims across the UK believe that the UK's participation in the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq and the resulting carnage we have seen in those countries have been a key contributory factor in the radicalisation of some young Muslims."