British police on Thursday night told UK Prime Minister Tony Blair that they need sweeping new powers to counter the terrorist threat, including the right to detain a suspect for up to three months without charge instead of the current 14 days.
Senior officers also want powers to attack and close down Web sites, and a new criminal offence of using the Internet to prepare acts of terrorism, to "suppress inappropriate internet usage."
They also want to make it a criminal offence for suspects to refuse to cooperate in giving the police full access to computer files by refusing to disclose their encryption keys.
The police would also like to see much clearer information given to the public about the threat level, the creation of a specialist border-security agency and further discussions about the use of phonetap evidence in terrorist cases.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) published its list of 11 further changes in the law it wants after meeting Blair and security chiefs on Thursday.
Both MI5 (UK counter intelligence) and MI6 (UK intelligence) wanted Thursday's meeting to discuss Britain's entire counter-terrorism strategy and how to fill the intelligence gaps exposed by the London bombings.
Officials confirmed that the security and intelligence agencies want a new system of plea bargaining. Terrorists who are convicted would be given lighter sentences if they supplied information before their trials.
Suspects would be given the chance to provide information in "intelligence-only" interviews and none of the information would be used against them in trials.
Officials also said MI5 was "in principle" in favor of the product of phone taps being used as evidence in trials. What has not been resolved is who would pay for the resources needed to transcribe the tapes in a way that would satisfy defense lawyers, according to counter-terrorism sources.
Blair has said he is willing to consider any "gaps in the law" that police and security chiefs identify as a result of the London attacks.
Ken Jones, the chairman of ACPO's terrorism committee, said: "The evolving nature of the current threat from international terrorism demands that those charged with countering the threat have the tools they need to do the job."
"Often there is a need to intervene and disrupt at an early stage those who are intent on terrorist activity, in order to protect the public. Clearly our legislation must reflect the importance of such disruptive action," Jones said.
The most controversial of the police proposals is the demand to be able to hold without charge a terrorist suspect for three months instead of 14 days.
An ACPO spokesman said the complexity and scale of counter-terrorist operations means the 14-day maximum is often insufficient.
"The complexities and timescales surrounding forensic examination of [crime] scenes merely add to the burden and immense time pressures on investigating officers," he said.
Three-month periods would help to ensure the charge could be sustained in court.
Other powers police told Blair they needed include terror suspects to give compulsory answers to questions similar to obligations on company directors in fraud trials; a duty on the private sector to install protective security in designated locations; putting private security staff at the disposal of the police in the immediate aftermath of an outrage; new generation CCTV cameras at ports and airports.
The police sought extra funding for a regional network of Special Branch officers and a further ?45 million (US$79 million) to ensure national coverage for the new generation CCTV cameras, which scan number plates and alert intercept teams.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number