UK may charge clerics with treason

The Age:

August 8, 2005

Britain may charge Islamic clerics with treason if they incite violence or praise suicide attacks as part of a security crackdown in the wake of the July London bombings, newspapers reported.

State prosecutors and senior police are due to meet this week to discuss what charges could be brought against preachers whose endorsement of the suicide attacks could incite further acts of terrorism, the Daily Telegraph reported.

It said one option was to charge them with treason, which carries a life sentence in jail, or to deport them.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he wanted sweeping new powers to expel foreign nationals who incite terrorism, to shut down mosques breeding fanaticism and blacklist extremist clerics, websites and bookshops.

Blair has argued his proposals reflect a new mood in the country and has said the "rules of the game" were changing.

His proposals are in response to the London bombings on July 7, when four British Muslims killed themselves and 52 others on three underground trains and a bus.

A second similar attack exactly two weeks later killed nobody as the bombs failed to explode, but caused panic.

The Telegraph report said British-based cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed was among three people who will come under official scrutiny.

In an interview with Reuters, Bakri has described al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as "a sincere man who fights against evil forces".

Bakri, a Syrian-born cleric who also holds Lebanese citizenship, may return to Lebanon to avoid any charges, according to a report on the Web site of the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. He could not be reached for comment.

The BBC said the speeches and broadcasts of Bakri and two others will be checked to see if they could lead to treason charges. No one at the Attorney General's office could be reached for comment.

Some British newspapers have campaigned since the July attacks for the government to adopt a tougher stance towards what they call the "preachers of hate".

An editorial in the bestselling Sun newspaper said on Monday that "Bakri and his crew can't be booted out of Britain soon enough".