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Parliament rules against Blair's anti-terrorism measures

Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans for a new anti-terrorism law suffered a major setback Monday, as Parliament's upper chamber insisted that a government minister should not have the power to impose sweeping controls on terrorist suspects.

In a crucial House of Lords vote, peers voted by 249 to 119 to amend the Prevention of Terrorism Bill so that only courts can restrict a suspect's movements, impose curfews and other controls.

The vote was a blow to the government's plans to give a minister the power to act swiftly against suspects without the need for a trial.

Blair insists the new measures are necessary to protect Britain from the threat of terrorist attack. Opponents argue, however, that they would erode civil liberties.

The government may try to overturn the Lords amendments when the legislation returns to the House of Commons later this week, but will face dissent there also from the main opposition parties and many of its own lawmakers.

"We think it is necessary in the face of the new threat that terrorism poses to this country," said Lord Falconer, the country's chief legal officer.

The controversial legislation proposes giving Home Secretary Charles Clarke the power to impose curfews on suspects, ban them from using the telephone or Internet or electronically tag them, without having to involve the courts. With the permission of a judge, Clarke would also be allowed to place a suspect under house arrest without charge.

The government says the control orders will be used sparingly, and only in cases where a suspect cannot be brought to trial because evidence is too sensitive to reveal in open court or may compromise the work of intelligence agencies.

Sir John Stevens, the former head of London's police force has backed the government's proposals and warned that at least 100 terrorists trained by Osama bin Laden were at large in Britain.

The government insists it must have the new powers on the statute book before March 14, when a law allowing it to lock up foreign terror suspects indefinitely without trial expires. Britain's highest court had ruled that legislation infringed human rights.

The House of Lords, which has the power to amend and delay legislation, said Monday that only courts should issue the so-called control orders.

In another key amendment, peers said a control order could not be enforced until the director of public prosecutions examined the case and ruled it could not be tried successfully in court.

The government wants the power to impose the orders if it has "reasonable grounds" to suspect terrorist activity. In another important amendment, the Lords raised that burden of proof and said the court must be "satisfied on the balance of probabilities."
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