TEHRAN - The British minister for Northern Ireland affairs, John Ride, told the people of that country on Monday that they should expect human casualties in Britain's participation in the U.S.-led war against terrorism.

Responding a question by the reporter of BBC TV network on the possibility of human casualties if Britain takes part in the U.S. military action, Ride said, "There is a risk of British lives, but we should be prepared for it."

However, it seems that the British minister aims to prepare the ground for a bloodshed and is to ready the public opinion for the possible death of the citizens.

In fact, if Osama bin Laden is the main suspect behind the terrorist attacks in the U.S., there is no need of killing innocent people of Afghanistan because there is no fault with them. Today, the world is well-aware of the fact that the U.S. possible attack on Afghanistan and its so-called fight against terrorism is only a pretext applied to reach its goals in the region.

In fact, by such moves Washington and its allies aim to create a puppet state in Afghanistan and therefore in the region in long term.

The British minister insisted, "Since London is the closest ally of Washington, we should not refrain from assisting U.S. under the pretext of risk of lives."

"Our resistance against terrorism may lead to human casualties of British citizens, but there is no way out and we should not surrender to terrorists in fear of loosing lives," he stressed.