Britain Moves Ahead on Terror Laws
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LONDON – Prime Minister Blair vowed yesterday not to “give one inch” on British policies in Iraq or the Middle East, and said his government is determined to toughen laws against terrorists and their supporters in the wake of attacks on London’s transit system.
Police investigating last week’s failed bombings seized a car in north London and said they were examining suspicious material from an apartment linked to two suspects – an Eritrean-born Briton and a Somali who both have lived in Britain since childhood.
Opposition politicians backed the government on fighting terrorism, but warned that civil liberties could be eroded by one of the anti-terrorism powers sought by police: the right to hold suspects for three months without charge.
In his monthly news conference, Mr. Blair lashed out at critics who say Britain’s participation in the American led war in Iraq has made the country more of a target.
“Let us expose the obscenity of these people saying it is concern for Iraq that drives them to terrorism,” Mr. Blair told reporters. “If it is concern for Iraq, then why are they driving a car bomb into the middle of a group of children [in Iraq] and killing them?
“Whatever excuse or justification these people use, I do not believe we should give one inch to them, not in this country and the way we live our lives here; not in Iraq; not in Afghanistan; not in our support for two states, Israel and Palestine; not in our support for the alliances we choose, including with America.”
Mr. Blair met with the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard, and the Liberal Democrat chief, Charles Kennedy, to discuss legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people and four suspected suicide bombers. Similar bombings failed on July 21.
Among proposals the government plans to put before Parliament in the fall is to outlaw “indirect incitement” of terrorism, including praising those who carry out attacks. That is aimed at extremist clerics accused of radicalizing disaffected Muslim youth in Britain. The law also would make it illegal to receive training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad, plan an attack, or engage in such activities as obtaining bomb-making instructions on the Internet.
