London ? A top British government official warned Prime Minister Tony Blair more than a year before the London transit bombings last month that Britain’s policy in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East was fueling extremism among British Muslims, a London newspaper reported Sunday.

“British foreign policy and the perception of its negative effect on Muslims globally plays a significant role in creating a feeling of anger” especially among younger British Muslims, Michael Jay, the top civil servant in the Foreign Office, wrote in a May 2004 letter that was reported by the Observer newspaper. “This seems to be a key driver behind recruitment by extremist organizations.”

Blair has consistently denied a link between Britain’s participation in the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the July 7 bombings, which killed 52 people. Blair has said the accused bombers – all young Muslim men, several of them British citizens – were motivated by a “perverse” interpretation of Islam and that similar attacks had been happening since long before the Iraq war began.

Jay’s letter makes clear that Blair was warned of the dangers of Britain’s falling esteem in the Muslim world because of its Iraq policy 14 months before the London bombings.