Indian Parliament debates tougher anti-terror laws

INDIA: India's parliament on Wednesday opened debate on tougher anti-terrorism laws and a plan to set up an FBI-style agency designed to plug gaping security holes ex-posed by last month's Mumbai attacks.

The legislation includes provisions allowing police to hold suspects for up to 180 days, rather than the current 90 days, and allows for a financial clampdown on suspects.

The setting up of a National Investigations Agency, styled on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), also comes after decades of opposition from India's 29 states who had argued such a body would decrease their local law enforcement powers.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram argued the new legislation will enable the "speedy investigation, prosecution and trail of cases related to terrorism."

Indian security agencies, long criticised for lacking a cohesive counter-terrorism strategy and poor intelligence gathering and analysis, came under renewed fire after the Mumbai attacks.

Faced with seething public anger, the federal government had apologised for the government's inability to detect the Mumbai plot.

It promised to rectify the intelligence lapses and "logistical weakness" that came to light during the 60-hour siege, which killed 172 people, including nine gunmen, and wounded nearly 300 others.

NEW DELHI, Wednesday, AFP