Britain to free terror suspects, Blair bill stalled
LONDON, Friday (Reuters) Britain was expected to release eight terror
suspects, regarded by the government as among the most dangerous in the
country, as politicians continued to squabble on Friday over new terror
legislation.
A judge released one suspect, a 37-year-old Algerian referred to only
as "A", on bail late on Thursday and said he intended to free eight
others soon.
They include Abu Qatada, a Syrian cleric who the government says was
a spiritual mentor to Mohammed Atta, leader of the hijackers who staged
the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The suspects will be electronically tagged and closely monitored in
their homes but their imminent release on bail has nevertheless caused
concern.
Britain's most senior police officer Sir Ian Blair said their release
would be "a grave threat to national security".
The men, mostly north Africans and all Muslim, have been held in
prison for up to three years without being charged or tried. Senior
judges deemed their detention illegal late last year, prompting fresh
appeals for their release.
They were arrested under powerful anti-terror legislation which
Britain passed in the wake of Sept. 11. That legislation is due to
expire on Sunday and politicians are locked in a bitter battle over new
laws to replace it. Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to ram a bill
through parliament before the old laws expire, but opponents from both
left and right - many from within Blair's Labour Party - say it is badly
drafted or draconian.
They also say they have not had time to debate it properly and some
are pushing for "a sunset clause" in the bill which would mean it would
lapse later this year, allowing legislators to replace it with something
better. Blair has accused the opposition Conservative Party of being
irresponsible by insisting on such changes. "It is time to get serious,"
Blair told a news conference on Thursday. "We are talking about an issue
where the advice is clear. We need these powers."
Blair has managed to push the bill through the elected House of
Commons after making major concessions, notably allowing judges to
review politicians' decisions to impose "control orders" on suspects.
But the unelected House of Lords, where Blair does not have a majority,
has rejected huge chunks of the bill, repeatedly sending it back to the
Commons.
In an extraordinary stand-off, politicians have batted the bill back
and forth between the two houses. Each time, the bill is carried from
one house to the other through the ornate corridors of Westminster by a
black-clad parliamentary official wearing a wig.
The Commons debated the bill into the early hours on Friday and the
Lords, many of them elderly, were due to return to it at 5.00 a.m. (0500
GMT).
By convention, the Lords are expected to back down and bow to the
will of the elected chamber, but they appear to be in no mood to uphold
tradition. |