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EU to agree terror clampdown after Madrid blasts

BRUSSELS, Tuesday (AFP) EU leaders will this week agree a raft of new measures aimed at prevening fresh terror attacks in Europe, on red alert since the deadly Madrid blasts rocketed terrorism to the top of the political agenda.

The plans include creating a European Union (EU) terrorism "tsar", while also boosting intelligence-sharing and agreeing a "solidarity clause" pledging mutual support in case of a new atrocity.

Europe has been left reeling by the March 11 blasts which killed over 200 people in the worst terrorist strike since the 1998 Lockerbie bombing, fueling fears of new attacks comparable to 9/11 in the United States.

The sense of political alarm after the Madrid attacks, for which a number of alleged north African militants are under suspicion, is reminiscent of the US shock after the September 2001 attacks, albeit in scaled down form. Britain's top police officer notably said that a terrorist attack on the country - seen as in the frontline due to its key support for the US since September 2001 - was inevitable.

EU leaders say the threat is to all. "The threat of terrorism affects us all. A terrorist act against any country concerns the international community as a whole," says a draft declaration on terrorism due to be agreed at an EU summit in Brussels Thursday and Friday.

The EU measures - also including tighter rules to cut terrorists' funding, strengthening border security and boosting aid to victims - were proposed by interior ministers in emergency talks called after the Madrid blasts.

At the same time crime-fighting chiefs also met to start urgently learning the lessons of the Madrid blasts, in which multiple bombs were detonated simultaneously on rush-hour commuter trains, to devastating effect.

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