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UK to beef up anti-terror laws
20/07/2005 21:14 - (SA)
Peter Walker
London - Britain is to rush through new laws to beef up its anti-terrorism legislation following the London bombings, interior minister Charles Clarke said on Wednesday, also announcing moves to stop radical clerics from entering the country.
Additionally, the government said it had secured a deal with Jordan to extradite terrorism suspects, planned as the first in a series of similar arrangements.
In a statement to parliament about the government response to the July 7 attacks in London in which at least 56 people died, Clarke said he had secured the agreement of opposition parties to rush through the new laws as soon as parliament returns from its summer break in October.
To speed the progress of the measures, the government would be "de-coupling" them from laws codifying controversial powers to monitor foreign terror suspects, so-called control orders, he told MPs.
Preparatory
The new laws would firstly ban "acts preparatory to terrorism", allowing police to arrest and charge people in the early stages of planning a major attack.
Another offence would be the indirect incitement of terrorism, something aimed at the likes of radical clerics who praise suicide bombers.
Directly inciting terrorism was already illegal, Clarke noted.
"This proposal targets those who while not directly inciting (terrorism), glorify and condone terrorist acts, knowing full well that the effect on their listeners will be to encourage them to turn to terrorism," he said.
Finally, laws banning Britons from undergoing terrorism training abroad will be tightened up to "close the gaps" in current legislation.
Rushed
The laws would be rushed through parliament "as soon as practicably possible when the House (of Commons) returns," Clarke said.
Separately, Clarke said, Britain is to draw up a list of "unacceptable behaviour" encouraging terrorism, and foreign nationals who contravene the rules will be automatically banned from the country.
The power to exclude foreign nationals from Britain is already granted to the home secretary under law, but would now be implemented more vigorously following the London bombings.
Clarke himself would make the judgement as to who should be excluded, he told MPs.
"In the circumstances we now face, I decided that it is right to broaden the use of these powers to deal with those who foment terrorism or seek to provoke others to terrorist acts," Clarke said.
Unacceptable behaviour
"To this end, I intend to draw up a list of unacceptable behaviour which would fall within this, for example preaching, running websites, or writing articles which are intended to foment or provoke terrorism," he said.
- SAPA
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