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| Saturday, 20 March 2004 |
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Terror rockets to top of EU agenda BRUSSELS, Friday (AFP,Reuters) European Union interior ministers are to gather in Brussels for emergency talks on how to respond to last week's Madrid bomb blasts, which have rocketed terrorism to the top of the EU's agenda. Amid heightened security across Europe, the EU is expected to agree a new "Mr Terrorism" post to coordinate security stategy, while also agreeing on a "solidarity clause" pledging all to come to the aid of an attacked EU state. But simmering discord persists in particular over the sensitive issue of intelligence-sharing, with proposals for a "European CIA" facing likely rejection at the talks, hastily arranged after the devastating Spanish attacks, which have revived fears of Al-Qaeda attacks two and a half years after 9/11. "This idea is already stillborn," said one diplomat of the proposal by Belgium and Austria, which faces opposition notably from EU heavyweights like France and Britain reluctant to share information EU-wide for fear of leaks. Ministers from the so-called G5 of intelligence heavyweights - Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain - will hold a separate meeting before the start of the talks proper at 10:00 am (0900 GMT). Terrorism has leapt up the political agenda after last week's attacks, which killed over 200 people and injured some 1,500 in the continent's worst act of terror since the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing over Scotland. The EU's Irish presidency called the talks to prepare the ground for a summit of EU leaders next week likely to be overshadowed by the Madrid attacks. Aside from the terrorism coordinator and the solidarity clause, the Irish are set to propose steps including tightening up measures to cut off extremists funding and boosting Europol, the EU's existing police agency. Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes, whose government was ousted in polls three days after the massacre amid anger over its handling of the crisis, will notably brief his counterparts on the probe into the blasts. On the ground the Madrid blasts have triggered an immediate boost in security across Europe, with attention focussed in particular on public transport. Britain, the closest US ally over the Iraq war, is on high alert. But the EU, which agreed a raft of new initiatives after the September 2001 attacks on the United States, is under pressure to do more. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana - who will oversee the new terrosism tsar - has stressed that the EU should make better use of initiatives it already has, rather than create new ones. Key EU states agree. "Creating new institutions would only delay any improvements," France's Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on the eve of the Brussels talks. An EU terrorist blacklist is in place. But critics lament delays on other initiatives agreed after 9/11, such as a European arrest warrant, yet to be ratified by five states: Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Greece. Meanwhile Britain is to spend an extra 15 million pounds (22 million euros, 27 million dollars) per year on elite anti-terrorism police, the government announced in the wake of the Madrid train bombings. The additional cash will "significantly increase" surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities, Home Secretary David Blunkett said in a statement. The counter-terrorism branch of the London-based Metropolitan Police, known as SO13, will receive an extra 12 million pounds, with the remainder going to the Special Branch, the police section which deals in national security matters, elsewhere in the country. Meanwhile France said it had doubled the number of military personnel on security duty since raising its terror alert rating, as investigators continued to probe a threat from the unknown "Servants of Allah". But rail traffic across northern France was severely disrupted after police shut down a major line following a threatening phone call a shadowy group calling itself AZF, only to find an empty oxygen bottle on the tracks north of Paris. Meanwhile, after meeting with parliamentary leaders from across the political spectrum, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said he would bring the parties together once a month for a update on terror risks and responses. Meanwhile Spain arrested five more suspects in connection with last week's Madrid train bombings, sources said, while the death toll reached 202 and investigators probed what police believe is an al Qaeda link. The arrests of one Spaniard and four Arabs occurred as three Moroccans and two Indians detained last Saturday began giving evidence in the High Court amid tight security. |
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