U.K. plans tougher security measures

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 1. Shrugging off opposition from civil rights groups, the Blair Government has decided on a series of ``emergency'' measures to rid Britain of its image as a haven for terrorists. These are in addition to the action it has already taken specifically to target Osama bin Laden's network, and the Taliban regime whose U.K. assets amounting to £60 million have been frozen, it was announced today.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, who has emerged as the most hawkish of European leaders in the U.S.-led international coalition against terrorism, overrode fears that the proposed measures might be used to curtail individual freedom and said ``Our first duty must be to protect our citizens''. Asylum- seekers, already a target of suspicion and abuse, would be affected most by a clutch of tough laws expected to be passed by Parliament over the next few weeks. Notwithstanding the official line that genuine refugees have nothing to fear, there is considerable anxiety that the new powers which the Government proposes to acquire to detain, deport or extradite suspects may end up as a source of harassment.

``Thousands of Britons are going to disappear for long periods of time because it is easier to issue a warrant than to make sure you have decent evidence...the civil liberties implications of that are appalling,'' according to Mr. Stephen Jakobi of the Fair Trials Abroad. Civil rights activists also expressed concern over reports that the Human Rights Act might have to be diluted in the larger fight against terrorism.

The proposals, being considered by the Government, include speeding up extradition, tightening asylum rules with provision for indefinite detention of illegal immigrants, monitoring bank accounts of suspects and introduction of identity cards. For the first time, bureaux de change, described as a major source of money laundering, are to be targeted. One newspaper quoted government sources as saying that nearly £4 billion left Britain every year through these private foreign currency exchanges with 65 per cent coming from illegal sources. The squeeze on money changers is intended to smash what The Times called the ``soft underbelly of organised crime financing''.

The proposal, which has evoked widespread criticism, relates to identity cards and some of the most strident voices have come from within the ruling party. A former Home Office Minister, Mr. Mike O'Brien, who is supporting a cross-party campaign against ID cards, said their introduction would mean a ``victory for terrorism''.

Mr. Blair has defended his Government's plans saying: ``We cannot have a situation in which people come in and abuse our asylum procedures and are then allowed to remain, claiming asylum. And we cannot have a sit uation where, if we know, someone is a suspected terrorist, we do not have the legal power to detain them indefinitely until we find a country to deport them.'' On ID cards, he admitted that it was a ``very big step'' and stressed, while speaking on BBC's ``Breakfast with Frost'' programme that ``we must get it right''.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party's annual conference began Brighton on Sunday amid a large but peaceful protest by anti- globalisation activists. In his first formal speech to the party tomorrow since the September 11 crisis, Mr. Blair is expected to explain why it is necessary to stand ``shoulder to shoulder'' with the U.S. in its ``war'' against terrorism.

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Section  : International
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