MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Blair announces new counter-terrorism measures

Primer Minister Tony Blair announces stricter deportation laws to combat terrorism. “The rules of the game are changing.”

The proposals, which also target extremist Web sites and bookshops, are aimed primarily at excluding from Britain radical Islamic clerics accused of whipping up hatred and violence among vulnerable, disenfranchised Muslim men.

??We are angry. We are angry about extremism and about what they are doing to our country, angry about their abuse of our good nature,'' said Blair. ??We welcome people here who share our values and our way of life. But don't meddle in extremism because if you meddle in it... you are going back out again.''

The July 7 suicide bombings of London's transit system and the failed July 21 attacks stunned Britons, and raised fresh concern about the freedoms that Britain offers to individuals and groups known for extremist activities. Blair said the focus of the anti-terror proposals was on foreigners because authorities believe ??the ideological drive and push is coming from the outside.''

But some members of Britain's Muslim community expressed concern that moderate Muslims would be subjected to new prejudices and restrictions.

Blair said some of the new anti-terror measures will require legislation and he would consider asking Parliament to reconvene next month to begin considering the proposals. Other measures, such as broadening the grounds for deportation, can be enacted immediately, but likely will face court tests. Blair said the government was prepared to amend human rights legislation if legal challenges proved insurmountable.

Under the new proposals, anyone who preaches hatred or violence could be deported, those linked to terrorism would be automatically refused asylum and steps would be taken to make it easier to strip naturalized citizens of their British citizenship if they preached violence.

The government also will consider a request from police and security services to hold terror suspects for three months without charge. The current time limit is 14 days. The measures also would extend the use of home arrest for Britons who can't be deported. New powers would be created to allow the closure of mosques that foment extremism. Authorities will draw up lists of radical preachers who will not be allowed to enter Britain, and a list of radical Web sites and bookstores. Any foreigner who ??actively engages'' with those places could face deportation. Membership in Islamic groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir would also become a crime, as would glorifying terrorism.

It isn't immediately clear how the measures would have affected those suspected of carrying out the July 7 and July 21 attacks. Three of the suspected July 7 suicide bombers were young Pakistani Britons; the fourth moved from Jamaica as a child. Most of the men alleged to have carried out the failed attacks two weeks later, taking no lives, were immigrants from East Africa.

The proposals, however, could affect their ideological leaders, as well as people such as jailed Egyptian-born cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who allegedly encouraged the murder of Jews and other non-Muslims and is wanted in the United States, and Omar Mahmoud abu Omar, a Palestinian better known as Abu Qatada. He has been sentenced in Jordan in absentia for his alleged role in a series of explosions and terror plots. He was jailed without charge for a time in Britain, and is now subject to orders restricting his activities.

Sheikh Omar Bakri, whom the government has repeatedly accused of preaching radicalism, questioned how he could be punished for his past utterances. ??If they believed what I said was illegal, why didn't they arrest me at the time, they know my work well,'' he told reporters. ??But honestly, if they ask me to leave, I would never challenge that decision.'' He said if asked to leave, he would return to Lebanon.

Ajmal Masroor of the Islamic Society of Britain said he was concerned about proposals that would give the government the power to close down mosques and unilaterally ban preachers. ??It will only ignite further anger and frustration in the hearts and minds of Muslims,'' he said. Meanwhile, police charged three men with failing to disclose information about the whereabouts of a suspect in the failed July 21 London bomb attacks.

The Metropolitan Police said Shadi Sami Abdel Gadir, 22, Omar Almagboul, 20, and Mohamed Kabashi, 23, were charged under the Terrorism Act with withholding information that they ??knew or believed might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction'' of a terrorist suspect. The three men were due to appear in a London court today. Three other people already face similar charges, including the wife and sister-in-law of suspected bomber Hamdi Issac.(Agencies)