[size=18]Blair vows hard line on fanatics
[/size]

Tony Blair has outlined a raft of plans to extend powers to deport or exclude foreigners who encourage terrorism.

The UK can already exclude or deport those who pose a threat to security and Mr Blair said he also wanted to clamp down on those who advocated terror.

The prime minister said he was prepared to amend human rights laws to make deportations more straightforward.

But Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair's announcements would put the cross-party consensus under strain.

The measures came as Scotland Yard confirmed they had arrested two more people in London earlier this week in connection with the 21 July attempted bombings.

It brings the total of people still in custody over the bomb attempts to 17 - three of whom have been charged.
[b]
Liberties fears [/b]

On the new anti-terror package, Mr Kennedy warned that plans to ban Muslim organisations, powers to close mosques and deport people who "visit particular bookshops and websites" risked "inflaming tensions and alienating people".

Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said Mr Blair has attacked key human rights and would jeopardise national unity.

Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis welcomed the broad thrust of the proposals on exclusions and deportations but he said the consultation period was very short.

Mr Davis said: "It is vital that the home secretary is able to use his powers to deport or exclude non-UK citizens who threaten our national security - we have been calling for him to use these for some time."

London has been nicknamed "Londonistan" - centre for militant Islam - by some critics who believe the UK has been too liberal towards radical clerics.

At the final news conference before his summer break, Mr Blair said British hospitality had been abused and people should know the "rules of the game are changing".

"People now understand that when we warned of the terrorist threat it wasn't scaremongering it was real, he said.
[b]
Parliament recall? [/b]

Among the planned changes, Mr Blair said people would be refused asylum if they had been involved in terrorism.

A one-month consultation would be held on the new grounds for excluding and deporting people - something which does not require new legislation.

Mr Blair said Parliament might be brought back from the summer recess early to discuss other measures.

These will include advocating violence to further a person's belief, justifying or validating such violence, or fostering hatred.

[b]Banned groups [/b]

The Hizb ut Tahrir organisation and Al-Muhajiroun - or its successor group - are to be banned, Mr Blair announced.

"We will also examine the grounds for proscription to widen them and put forward proposals in the new legislation," he said.

Imran Waheed of Hizb ut Tahrir said his group would fight any ban and insisted they were "non-violent".

The Muslim Council of Britain said the ban would be "counter productive".

Mr Blair said British people were tolerant but "there is also a determination that this very tolerance and determination should not be abused by a small fanatical minority and anger that it has".

On Thursday al-Qaeda's number two threatened new attacks on London and blamed the prime minister for the 7 July bombings, which killed 56.

Mr Blair said the British people knew how to deal with such comments, which had been made by those supporting the killing of innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair argued it would have been better to bring in the new measures at an earlier date but said he was glad action was being taken now.

[b]PLANNED MEASURES [/b]

-Home secretary to consider deporting any foreigner involved in listed extremist centres and websites

-Make justifying or glorifying terrorism anywhere an offence

-Automatically refuse asylum to anyone with anything to do with terrorism

-Examine calls for police to be able to hold terror suspects for longer before pressing charges

-Use more control orders against British terror suspects

-Create a list of preachers who will be kept out of the UK

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4747573.stm]BBC[/url]

"angel" wrote:

"irfghan" wrote:

Tony Blair has outlined a raft of plans to extend powers to deport or exclude foreigners who encourage terrorism.

how is he gona identify the above exactly? not all ppl are so open to give their views on terrorism...

p.s. why have u spelt your name like "irfghan"? :?

Gonna be interesting to see how they distinguish what constitutes 'encouraging terrorism'. From listening to Tony Blair, it seems that any form of 'praising' suicide bombings anywhere will mean encouraging terrorism. We'll probably going to end up having watch what we say about poitics or religion or anything. :roll:

PS. Anything related to my username should be diverted to 'No Topic'.

[b]Banning Non-Violent Groups is Not the Solution[/b]

The Muslim Council of Britain regards the Prime Ministers statement today in which he announced a number of measures, including seeking to proscribe the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, with concern and alarm.

The MCB holds no brief for Hizb ut-Tahrir they are a group with whom the mainstream Muslim community has strong and well known disagreements concerning participation in our political process. However, banning Hizb ut-Tahrir is certainly not the solution and may well prove to be counterproductive. We understand that Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom are an avowedly non-violent group. If there are groups that are thought to be contravening our laws, then they ought to be prosecuted in courts of law, not driven underground. Our democratic values need to be upheld, not undermined, said Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

In addition, we are seeking clarification from the government to ensure that expressions of support for people who are living under brutal military occupation is not to be outlawed. That would be completely unacceptable. Our faith of Islam commands us to speak out against injustice wherever it occurs. To prohibit support for oppressed peoples would make us complicit in the injustice and would have dire consequences for the upholding of international legality, said Sir Iqbal.

The MCB recalls the admonition given by the Chief Justice Lord Woolf who stated that: In defending democracy, we must not forget the need to observe the values which make democracy worth defending.

[url=http://www.mcb.org.uk/]MCB[/url]

[size=18]Britain unveils new anti-terror powers[/size]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced a range of new powers to combat terrorism following the London bombings.

The prime minister warned clerics in the country that "the rules of the game are changing".

A combative Blair also responded furiously to an al-Qaida statement on the attacks, the first of which killed 56 people, saying they were a response to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blair labelled the argument as an "obscenity".

Speaking at his final Downing Street press conference before an imminent summer break, Blair unveiled around a dozen proposals to crack down on radical Muslim clerics who advocate terrorism or foment hatred.

"Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the game are changing," a stern Blair warned.

"Coming to Britain is not a right and even when people have come here, staying here carries with it a duty. That duty is to share and support the values that sustain the British way of life," he said.
[b]
Rule review[/b]

Among potentially controversial moves is a possible review of the 1998 Human Rights Act, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, to see if it might have to be circumvented to speed up the deportation of foreign nationals linked to terror.

A section of the convention preventing deportation if the detained person fears torture on their return home might be challenged, Blair said.

Additionally, Britain's obligations under international asylum rules would be altered, the prime minister said.

"Anyone who has participated in terrorism or has anything to do with it, anywhere, will automatically be refused asylum in our country," he said.

After the 7 July attacks on London underground trains and a bus, and a bungled attempted repeat a fortnight later when the bombs failed, attitudes in Britain had hardened, Blair said.

Overall, the response of the British people had been "unified and dignified and remarkable", Blair said.

"However, I am acutely aware that alongside these feelings is also a determination that this very tolerance and good nature should not be abused by a small but fanatical minority, and an anger that it has been," he added.

[b]Firm actions [/b]

Blair said he had been asked many times in the past four weeks to deal firmly with those who incite terrorism, such as hard-line clerics.

And although the four 7 July attackers were British Muslims, three of Pakistani origin, the new measures were in no way an attack on the Muslim community.

"The Muslim community, I should emphasise, has been and is our partner in this endeavour," Blair said.

Some of the new rules require only an administrative change to existing laws meaning they can be introduced immediately, Blair said, while others need parliamentary approval in the autumn.

[b]Deportations [/b]

Other changes would involve increasing court capacity to speed up deportations, banning groups such as al-Muhajiroun - whose members say it has disbanded - and setting a maximum time limit on extradition cases.

Additionally, powers would be extended allowing the government to strip citizenship from people with British or dual nationality who "act in a way that is contrary to the interest of this country", Blair said.

For British nationals, the government would extend the use of so-called "control orders", which currently allow measures such as limited house arrest for foreign nationals suspected of terrorism.

[b]Iraq war[/b]

Blair's personal popularity in Britain has been boosted by his response to the twin attacks, but he remains dogged by the Iraq war, notably whether his decision to back the US-led conflict made London a prime target.

On Thursday, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahri released a filmed statement warning of more attacks unless Britain withdrew from Iraq.

Blair responded angrily to a question about this, noting that the groups putting such arguments forward were also killing innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"And that is why, when they try to use Iraq or use Afghanistan or use the Palestinian cause as a means of saying, you know, we have justification for what we do, it is a complete obscenity," he said.
[b]
Analysis[/b]

Aljazeera.net spoke to the Iraqi political analyst and former professor of journalism at Baghdad University, Dr Liqa Makki, who said the link between the London bombings and Iraq could not be dropped whether British politicians accepted it or not.

"We had yesterday a man from al-Qaida who spoke on behalf of his organisation, and he clearly claimed the responsibility for London attacks and said they are linked to Iraq. How can Blair or anyone else deny that?

"If the perpetrator says I have done this because of Iraq, why should British politicians not consider that?

"I personally do not think al-Zawahri or al-Qaida are afraid of giving the real motivation for the London bombings. I think we have to believe them when they say the issue is linked to Iraq."

Moreover, Makki cited the fact that no attacks had taken place in Europe before the Iraq war.

"The fact that the attacks in Europe have taken place after Iraq is a clear indication that the war has everything to do with the bombings.

"Why were there no bombing in France? Why was Spain hit before it pulled its troops from Iraq? And why has it not been hit after its withdrawal?" he said.

[b]More attacks[/b]

Although the four 7 July bombers are dead and the main suspects from two weeks later are in custody, the police have warned that London could face more attacks.

Thousands of police, some armed, flooded the city's streets and transport system on Thursday, mindful that it was two weeks after the second attack, which in turn came a fortnight after the first.

Blair is expected to leave on holiday in the next few days, although his office, following its standard practice, has refused to say where he is going or when.

[url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2172CD82-350D-4572-AD04-8689CC75F...

I don't know what option to vote for on the poll.

I'm torn between 'counter-productive' and 'part of wider war against Islam'.