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01/27/2005:

"Britain Offers Plan to Restrain, Not Jail, Foreign Terror Suspects"

LONDON, Jan. 26 - The British government announced a plan on Wednesday to overhaul its antiterrorism laws, hoping to grant itself broad new powers to monitor and control foreign terrorism suspects without having to detain them indefinitely without charges, a policy that was declared illegal last month by Britain's highest court.

The measures, which must be put forward to Parliament as a bill, would give the home secretary, Charles Clarke, the ability to give suspects curfews, tag them with electronic bracelets, limit their access to telephones and the Internet, restrict their communications with "named individuals" and, as a last resort, place them under house arrest.

The new "control orders" would apply to foreigners and British citizens, addressing the court's judgment that special treatment for foreign detainees was discriminatory and violated the European Convention on Human Rights. The orders, the government said, could be applied if there are "reasonable grounds" for suspecting terrorist activity. Prosecuting a suspect on charges requires a higher threshold.

In announcing the plan to the House of Commons, Mr. Clarke said that the suspects now in detention - the number is thought to be between 9 and 12 - would remain in jail until the "control orders" were in place, adding that they continued "to pose a threat to national security." Some of the men have been in detention for three years.

"There remains a public emergency threatening the life of the nation," Mr. Clarke said. "The threat is real, and I believe that the steps I am announcing today will enable us more effectively to meet that threat."
Full Article: nytimes.com/reuters