A new package of counter-terrorism measures which will be proposed by the British government tomorrow would outlaw those who provide or attend terrorist training courses in Britain or abroad and make it a criminal offense to describe those who carry out suicide bombings as "martyrs."
The centerpiece of a counter-terrorism bill will be the new crime of "acts preparatory to terrorism," which ministers said on Friday would make it easier for the police and security services to intervene when a terrorist operation was being planned. The package will be discussed in cross-party talks at Downing Street next week.
The details of the measures were outlined by Home Secretary Charles Clarke, in letters to the shadow home secretary, David Davis, and the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Mark Oaten, in the hope of securing a political consensus behind the package.
PHOTO: AP
Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said that work on the measures had begun before July 7. She hoped the existing timetable for new anti-terrorist legislation -- including the promised review of the government's controversial "control orders"on suspected terrorists -- would be met and that it would be on the statute book by next summer.
Clarke said the new offense of "acts preparatory to terrorism"would cover providing or receiving training in the use of hazardous substances and in other methods or techniques for terrorist purposes. "
"This covers training provided or received in the UK and abroad,"he said.
While the new offense will not be retrospective, it is designed to end the flow of British recruits to terrorist training camps and schools in Pakistan and Iraq.
Evidence that somebody was involved in terrorist training could include the discovery of bomb-making instructions, attempts to acquire certain chemicals and accessing terrorist-related Web sites.
The creation of the offense of indirect incitement to terrorism could prove the most troublesome for ministers. They have already been forced to modify the language of the offense from "glorifying or condoning" terrorism, because of fears that it would not stand up in court. Blears said that it was already an offense to incite someone directly to commit a violent or criminal act and they now wanted to widen it to indirect incitement to terrorism. She said prosecutions would not be limited to those authorized by the director of public prosecutions alone.
The government also intends to bring forward a battery of minor amendments to the security services' powers, including new rules on proscribing terrorist groups so that they cannot evade the ban by simply changing their names.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS