One of Britain's most senior Muslim leaders has called on Home Secretary Charles Clarke to re-think his decision not to hold a public inquiry into the July 7 atrocities.
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said such an inquiry would be "crucial" to establish whether the war in Iraq had been a key factor in prompting the bombings.
Insisting there would be no "cover-up", Mr Clarke said he would instead issue a "narrative" compiled from security services intelligence by a senior civil servant.
Sir Iqbal - knighted by the Queen just two weeks ago - said: "The Muslim working groups set up by Home Office in the aftermath of July 7 said they believed that the Iraq war was a 'key contributory factor' in the radicalisation occurring in some young Muslims.
"A public inquiry would be able to ascertain if this was indeed the case. We believe it is in our country's wider interest to hold a public inquiry and we call on the Government to think again on this crucial matter."
Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Certainly, there is no question of a cover-up of any kind. We are involved in a murder investigation, that is a very active investigation.
"Secondly, we are looking at potential future threats... and that is a very important thing not to be distracted from.
"Thirdly, the time factor. I have always been a sceptic... of the length of time that inquiries of this kind do actually take and the distraction which they offer.
"And finally, of course, a number of committees ... are looking at various aspects of this."
But Mr Clarke said he thought there was a need for a narrative of what happened, adding that legal issues arose because although the bombers were dead, there were still questions over how they operated and whether they acted alone.
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