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Blair Declares New Anti-Terror Policies
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/in...rtner=homepage
Quote:
Blair Vows New Laws to End Sanctuary for Muslim Extremists
BY ALAN COWELL
LONDON, Aug. 5 - Prime Minister Tony Blair today promised new measures to close down mosques and bar or deport clerics deemed to be fostering hatred and violence, bringing the country's antiterrorism policy more into line with its neighbors' and answering critics who say Britain has given shelter to Islamic extremists for years.
He also said two Islamic organizations would be banned. A global list would be drawn up of people "whose activities or views pose a threat to Britain's security," and they would be kept out of Britain.
"Let no one be in any doubt," he said at a news conference, "the rules of the game are changing."
Mr. Blair's announcement was immediately condemned by Muslim groups here, who warned that the moves would be seen as "dangerous" and discriminatory. Fears of political reprisal have steadily risen among British Muslims since July 7, when four bombers attacked London's transportation system and killed 52 people besides themselves. A second attack followed on July 21 but caused no casualties.
The changes, which will require Parliament's approval, strike a new note in the ongoing debate here about the balance between civil liberties and national security. They seem to nudge Britain toward policies adopted by the United States - and widely criticized by leaders here - after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The initiatives still fall short of American policies that send terrorism suspects to be held without charges at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, or that allow the rendition of suspects to other countries for interrogation. But Mr. Blair warned that Britain would amend its human rights legislation, if necessary, to enable the authorities to deport foreigners to lands with questionable human rights records - a step forbidden under the European Human Rights Convention.
The new measures take aim for the first time at Islamic Web sites and book stores that are considered extremist and at "networks and particular organizations of concern." In addition, Mr. Blair said that any foreigners in Britain in "active engagement" with those sites or groups would be considered for deportation. He did not say how Britain would define the term extremist.
"We will consult on a new power to order closure of a place of worship which is used as a center for fomenting extremism and will consult with Muslim leaders in respect of those clerics who are not British citizens, to draw up a list of those not suitable to preach who will be excluded from Britain," Mr. Blair said.
He specifically mentioned two groups that would be banned: Hizb ut Tahrir, which says it supports a nonviolent campaign to restore the Islamic caliphate; and Al Muhajiroun and its successor groups, which have made a point of praising the Sept. 11 hijackers.
He also promised broader use of so-called control orders, which civil rights activists regard as a form of house arrest imposed without formal charges being laid.
Mr. Blair suggested that the new deportation powers would bring Britain into line with the procedures prevalent among some of its critics, notably France, who have said that terrorists have been given free rein here to plot attacks. "France and Spain, to name just two other European countries, do deport by administrative decision. The effect is often immediate," he said.
The threatened measures drew strong protests from Islamic groups.
Imran Waheed, a spokesman for Hizb ut Tahrir, said the move to outlaw it would cause "serious repercussions" among British Muslims and "will be seen by the Muslim community as stifling legitimate political dissent."
Massoud Shadjareh, head of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said Muslims "will think it is a war against political Islam. This is a very dangerous signal from the government."
The mainstream Muslim Council of Britain also assailed Mr. Blair's announcement, saying that "if there are groups that are thought to be contravening our laws, then they ought to be prosecuted in the courts, not driven underground."
Other countries who have criticized Britain's policies have specifically singled out Islamic groups and figures like Al Muhajiroun and its leader, the Syrian-born Sheik Omar Bakri Mohamed.
Additionally, clerics like Abu Qatada, a Jordanian of Palestinian descent, and Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was born in Egypt, were free to preach here. Places of worship like the Finsbury Park mosque were held to be centers of Islamic subversion used by terrorists including the so-called shoe-bomber Richard C. Reid and Zaccarias Moussaoui, the only man charged in America in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11.
In recent months, some of those clerics have been jailed or restricted. Mr. al-Masri is facing possible extradition to the United States, and Mr. Qatada is under a form of house arrest.
The measures announced by Mr. Blair are in addition to previously announced plans to introduce legislation later this year making it an offense to glorify, prepare for or incite acts of terrorism. Mr. Blair made clear today that the law would include such acts committed outside Britain, suggesting that threats against the United States and Britain ascribed on Thursday to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy in Al Qaeda, would become a formal offense under British law.
Mr. Blair said he was ready to recall Parliament from its summer recess if necessary to accelerate the harsher controls.
The smaller of Britain's two main opposition parties, the Liberal Democrats, registered its "alarm" at the new proposals today. Leaders of the Conservatives said they would wait to comment until seeing the entire text of the government's proposal.
Only a few months ago, before British national elections in May, Parliament and the country's highest court diluted Britain's antiterrorism laws, arguing strongly that some of their provisions violated suspects' civil rights. But the announcement of the latest measures suggested Mr. Blair felt Britons would now support sterner antiterrorism policies.
"For obvious reasons, the mood now is different," Mr. Blair said. "People do not talk of scaremongering."
"I don't think we should allow ourselves to be backed into a corner where we say when you are protecting national security you are interfering with civil rights or civil liberties," Mr. Blair said.
In a 12-point list of measures, Mr. Blair said Britain planned as of today to broaden the grounds for deportation to include "fostering hatred, advocating violence to further a person's beliefs or justifying or validating such violence."
Previously European human rights laws prevented Britain from deporting people to nations where they might face torture or the death sentence. But under the new proposal, Britain would deport people to countries that offer assurances that no such abuse will happen. Jordan has already given an assurance, Mr. Blair said, and he has held "very constructive" talks with the leaders of Algeria and Lebanon on similar commitments.
"Should legal obstacles arise, we will legislate further, including, if necessary amending the Human Rights Act," he said.
While Britain already has powers to revoke the British nationality of people with dual citizenship, "we will now consult on extending these, applying them to naturalized citizens engaged in extremism and making the procedures simpler and more effective," he said.
Several of the main suspects in the July 21 bombing attempt are naturalized Britons whose parents were born in the Horn of Africa. Since July 21, police have arrested 39 people, of whom three have been indicted with terrorism-related offenses and 14 remain in police custody. A further suspect, Hussein Osman, aka Hamdi Issac, is under arrest in Rome where he fled after the bombing attempts.
His wife, Yeshiemebet Girma, 29, and sister-in-law, Mulumubet Girma, 21, appeared before Bow Magistrate's Court today charged with failing to disclose information about him. The family originated in Ethiopia.
"Coming to Britain is not a right," Mr. Blair said. "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. Those that break that duty and try to incite hatred or engage in violence against our country and its people have no place here."
"This is not in any way whatever aimed at the decent law-abiding Muslim community of Britain," Mr. Blair said. "We know that this fringe of extremists does not truly represent Islam."
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Blair today created anti-terror policies akin to the United States' Patriot Act, as a response to the "7/7" bombings of last month. I personally do not endorse many if not all of the tenets of the aforementioned policy instated after 9/11, and find Blair's proposal a means to supply the government with an arsenal of tools that are based on ambiguous legislation, and I believe it largely violates constitutional rights. However, I'm curious to see what the reaction is in this community to Blair's comments. I highlighted a few of the points made by the author that I think are important issues that need to be raised.
What do others in here think about this?
Here is also a BBC article that presents several different views, added for perspective.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4748963.stm
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"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious." - Oscar Wilde
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