Muslim British cabinet minister Warsi resigns

LONDON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Foreign Office Minister Sayeeda Warsi, the first female Muslim in the British government's cabinet, resigned Tuesday over the country's policy regarding Gaza.

Warsi, known as Baroness Warsi or Lady Warsi, said on social media she "tendered her resignation. I can no longer support Govt. policy on Gaza," a reference to Prime Minister David Cameron's failure to condemn the Israeli shelling of Gaza and the deaths of civilians, many of whom are children. She was formerly Conservative Party chairman, and many Conservatives in Parliament have called on Cameron to rake a more vigorous role in attempting to rein in Israeli military strategy.

In her resignation letter, Warsi, a daughter of Pakistani immigrants, said the government's policy is "morally indefensible, is not in Britain's national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation internationally and domestically."

She added that "early evidence from the Home Office and others shows that the fallout of the current conflict and the potential for the crisis in Gaza and our response to it becoming a basis for radicalization could have consequences for us for years to come."

Warsi became Britain's first female Muslim in the cabinet when Cameron's coalition government was installed in 2010. She is the first cabinet minister in Cameron's tenure to resign over a policy matter.