He
also said two Islamic organizations 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.
"Let
no one be in any doubt," he said at a news conference. "The rules of
the game are changing."
Mr.
Blair's announcement was immediately condemned by Muslim groups here, who
warned that the moves would be seen as "dangerous" and
discriminatory, driving Muslim radicals underground just weeks after July 7,
when four bombers attacked London's transportation system and killed 56 people,
including themselves. A second attack followed on July 21 but caused no
casualties.
The
changes, which will require Parliament's approval, strike a harsher note in the
continuing debate here about the balance between civil liberties and national
security. They seem to nudge Britain toward policies adopted by the United
States - and widely criticized by leaders here - after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
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 - a step forbidden under the European Human
Rights Convention.
The
new measures take aim for the first time at Islamic Web sites and bookstores
that are considered extremist and at "networks and particular
organizations of concern." In addition, Mr. Blair said that any foreigners
in Britain in "active engagement" with those sites or groups would be
considered for deportation. He did not say how Britain would define the term
extremist.
"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
mentioned two groups that would be banned: Hizb ut-Tahrir, which says it
supports a nonviolent campaign to restore the Islamic caliphate; and successor
groups to Al Muhajiroun, which had made a point of praising the Sept. 11
hijackers before disbanding last year.
He
also promised broader use of so-called control orders, which civil rights
activists regard as a form of house arrest imposed without formal charges being
placed.
Mr.
Blair suggested that the new deportation powers would bring Britain into line
with the procedures prevalent among some of its critics - notably France -
which have said that terrorists have been given free rein here to plot attacks.
"France and Spain, to name just two other European countries, do deport by
administrative decision. The effect is often immediate," he said.
The threatened measures drew strong protests from Islamic groups.
Imran
Waheed, a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, 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."
Massoud
Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said Muslims
"will think it is a war against political Islam. This is a very dangerous
signal from the government."
The
mainstream Muslim Council of Britain also assailed Mr. Blair's announcement,
saying that "if there are groups that are thought to be contravening our
laws, then they ought to be prosecuted in the courts, not driven
underground."
Shami
Chakrabati, the director of Liberty, a civil rights group, said the proposals
showed "a clear lack of respect for some of the most fundamental values in
our democracy."
Other
countries that have criticized Britain's policies have specifically singled out
Islamic groups and figures like Al Muhajiroun and its leader, the Syrian-born
Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed.
Additionally,
clerics like Abu Qatada, a Jordanian of Palestinian descent, and Abu Hamza
al-Masri, who was born in Egypt, were free to preach here. Places of worship
like the Finsbury Park mosque were held to be centers of Islamic subversion
used by terrorists including the so-called shoe-bomber Richard C. Reid and
Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man charged in America in connection with the
attacks of Sept. 11.
In
recent months, some of those clerics have been jailed or restricted. Mr. Masri
faces possible extradition to the United States, and Mr. Qatada is under a form
of house arrest.
The
measures announced by Mr. Blair are in addition to previously announced plans
to introduce legislation later this year making it an offense to glorify,
prepare for or incite acts of terrorism. Mr. Blair made clear on Friday that
the law would include such acts committed outside Britain, suggesting that
threats against the United States and Britain ascribed on Thursday to Ayman
al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy in Al Qaeda, would become a formal
offense under British law.
Mr.
Blair said he was ready to recall Parliament from its summer recess if
necessary to accelerate the harsher controls.
On
Friday, the smaller of Britain's two main opposition parties, the Liberal
Democrats, registered its "alarm" at the new proposals. Leaders of
the Conservatives said they would not comment until seeing the entire text of
the government's proposal.
Over
the past few months, the country's highest court and the House of Lords have
resisted some parts of Mr. Blair's earlier antiterrorism proposals, arguing
that some of the provisions violated suspects' civil rights. But the
announcement of the latest measures suggested that Mr. Blair felt Britons would
now support sterner policies.
"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 Friday 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 under the new
proposal, Britain would deport people to countries that offer assurances that
no such abuse will happen. Jordan has already given an assurance, Mr. Blair
said, and he has held "very constructive" talks with the leaders of
Algeria and Lebanon on similar commitments.
While
Britain already has powers to revoke the British 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 attempts are naturalized Britons
whose parents were born in the Horn of Africa. Since July 21, the police have
arrested 39 people, of whom 3 have been indicted with terrorism-related
offenses and 14 remain in police custody. A further suspect, Hussein Osman,
also known as Hamdi Issac, is under arrest in Rome, where he fled after the
bombing attempts.
His
wife, Yeshiemebet Girma, 29, and sister-in-law, Mulumubet Girma, 21, appeared
before Bow Magistrate's Court on Friday charged with failing to disclose
information about him. The family is from Ethiopia.
The
Metropolitan Police said Friday that it had charged three other people - Shadi
Sami Abdel Gadir, 22, and Omar Almagboul, 20, of Brighton; and Mohamed Kabashi,
23, with no listed residence - with withholding information about a terrorist
suspect, The Associated Press reported.
"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."
Australia to Weigh Antiterror Laws.
By
The New York Times
In
the wake of the London bombings, Australia needs to consider new
counterterrorism measures, including laws to deport radical Islamic clerics and
crack down on extremists who incite violence, Prime Minister John Howard said
yesterday.
"I
don't want to overestimate or overstate the challenge we face, but, equally,
those who imagine that it can't happen here are misplaced," he said.
Mr.
Howard has been steadfast in his support for the Bush administration in Iraq,
and Australian officials have said this increases the possibility of an attack
against Australia, either abroad or at home.
About
60 men who are believed to have trained at Qaeda camps in Afghanistan are in
Australia legally, according to police and intelligence officials, and they are
closely watched. Of greater concern, they say, is the possibility of sleeper
cells of men who trained in Pakistan.