Blair Vows New Laws to End Sanctuary for Muslim Extremists

New York Times:

By ALAN COWELL

LONDON, Aug. 5 - After years of taunts that Britain offered easy sanctuary to Muslim extremists, Prime Minister Tony Blair promised new anti-terrorism measures today to close down mosques and ban or deport clerics deemed to be fostering hatred and violence.

"Let no one be in any doubt," he told a news conference, "the rules of the game are changing."

Mr. Blair was speaking four weeks and one day after four bombers attacked London's transportation system on July 7, killing 56 people, including themselves. A second copycat attack followed on July 21 but caused no casualties.

The British moves, part of an ongoing debate about the balance between civil liberties and national security, seemed to nudge Britain closer to the hardline attitudes against perceived extremists that emerged in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

They fell short, however, of measures that have resulted in accusations of prisoner abuse at Guantánamo Bay or in the rendering of terror suspects to third 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, an action that is currently forbidden under the European Human Rights Convention.

Mr. Blair said two Islamic groups - Hizb ut Tahrir and successor groups to Al Muhajiroun - 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.

The new measures also took aim for the first time at Islamic Web sites, bookstores, centers, "networks and particular organizations of concern."

"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 also promised broader use of so-called control orders that civil rights activists regard as a form of house arrest without formal charges being made.

Imran Waheed, a spokesman for Hizb ut Tahrir, which says it supports a non-violent campaign supporting the revival of the Islamic caliphate, 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."

The presence of radical Islamic groups, mosques and preachers in Britain has been criticized by some European countries, particularly France, which have argued that fundamentalists have been free to hatch terrorist plots here.

The critics have cited groups such as Al Muhajiroun, which praised the Sept. 11 attackers, and its leader, Sheikh Omar Bakri. Additionally, clerics such as Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza al-Masri were free to preach here, ande mosques such as the Finsbury Park mosque were held to be centers of Islmaic subversion used by terrorists - including the so-called shoe-bomber Richard Reid. In recent months, some of those clerics have been jailed or restricted. Mr. al-Masri is facing possible extradition to the United States.

The measures announced by Mr. Blair are in addition to previously announced plans to introduce legislation making it an offense to glorify, prepare for or incite acts of terrorism.

Only a few months ago, before British national elections in May, parliament and the country's highest court diluted Britain's anti-terrorism laws, arguing strongly that some of their provisions violated suspects' civil rights.

"For obvious reasons, the mood now is different," Mr. Blair said. "People do not talk of scaremongering."

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 Britain now plans to deport people to countries that offer assurances that no such abuse will happen. Jordan has already given an assurance, said Mr. Blair, who added that he had 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 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.

"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."