Blair gets tough
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:55 am
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:53 a.m. ET Aug. 5, 2005
LONDON - Taking new precautions following the July bomb attacks on London, Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday announced new deportation measures against people who advocate violence and a ban on two radical Islamic groups.
Clerics who preach hate and Web sites or book shops that sponsor violence would be targeted, Blair told a news conference. Foreign nationals could be deported under the new measures.
Blair said his government was prepared to amend human rights legislation if necessary if legal challenges arose from the new deportation measures.
Britain’s ability to deport foreign nationals has been hampered by human rights legislation. As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to a country where they may face torture or death.
“Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the games are changing,” Blair said, promising to crack down on extremists blamed for radicalizing pockets of Muslim youth.
Law by end of 2005?
By the year’s end, Blair also wants to pass legislation that would outlaw “indirect incitement” of terrorism — targeting extremist Islamic clerics who glorify acts of terrorism and seduce impressionable Muslim youth.
The proposed law would ban receiving training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad. A new offense of “acts preparatory to terrorism” would outlaw planning an attack and activities such as acquiring bomb-making instructions on the Internet.
Blair said his government would hold a short, one-month consultation on new grounds for excluding and deporting people from the United Kingdom.
“The Muslim community have been and are our partners in this endeavor,” said Blair, who has appealed to community leaders to help roots out extremists in their midst.
Two groups banned
While the proposal still needs to be approved by Parliament, Blair did take concrete action Friday in banning two militant Islamic groups:
Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that says it is dedicated to creating an Islamic caliphate centered on the Middle East. It insists it does not support violence.
A successor organization to al Muhajiroun, a group that celebrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Blair’s statement came a day after al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, warned Britain and the United States of more attacks. He did not claim responsibility for the London bombings, which killed 52 people and probably four suicide bombers, and instead blamed Blair for inciting the attacks because of his support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Updated: 10:53 a.m. ET Aug. 5, 2005
LONDON - Taking new precautions following the July bomb attacks on London, Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday announced new deportation measures against people who advocate violence and a ban on two radical Islamic groups.
Clerics who preach hate and Web sites or book shops that sponsor violence would be targeted, Blair told a news conference. Foreign nationals could be deported under the new measures.
Blair said his government was prepared to amend human rights legislation if necessary if legal challenges arose from the new deportation measures.
Britain’s ability to deport foreign nationals has been hampered by human rights legislation. As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to a country where they may face torture or death.
“Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the games are changing,” Blair said, promising to crack down on extremists blamed for radicalizing pockets of Muslim youth.
Law by end of 2005?
By the year’s end, Blair also wants to pass legislation that would outlaw “indirect incitement” of terrorism — targeting extremist Islamic clerics who glorify acts of terrorism and seduce impressionable Muslim youth.
The proposed law would ban receiving training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad. A new offense of “acts preparatory to terrorism” would outlaw planning an attack and activities such as acquiring bomb-making instructions on the Internet.
Blair said his government would hold a short, one-month consultation on new grounds for excluding and deporting people from the United Kingdom.
“The Muslim community have been and are our partners in this endeavor,” said Blair, who has appealed to community leaders to help roots out extremists in their midst.
Two groups banned
While the proposal still needs to be approved by Parliament, Blair did take concrete action Friday in banning two militant Islamic groups:
Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that says it is dedicated to creating an Islamic caliphate centered on the Middle East. It insists it does not support violence.
A successor organization to al Muhajiroun, a group that celebrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Blair’s statement came a day after al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, warned Britain and the United States of more attacks. He did not claim responsibility for the London bombings, which killed 52 people and probably four suicide bombers, and instead blamed Blair for inciting the attacks because of his support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.