Britain to free terror detainees, Blair bill deadlocked

LONDON - A British judge said today he would free all terrorism suspects held under emergency post-Sept. 11 powers, even as Prime Minister Tony Blair battled to replace the laws before they expire next week.

Debate raged in both houses of a deadlocked parliament over Blair's plan to replace the power to imprison foreigners without trial - ruled unlawful by judges last year - with measures including house arrest applying to foreigners and Britons alike.

Blair had pushed the bill despite opposition from both left and right and some of the biggest defections of his own party's supporters since he took power in 1997, saying the new measures must be passed immediately before the old ones expired.

Without them the public could not be protected, he said.

"It is time to get serious. We are talking about an issue where the advice is clear. We need these powers," the prime minister told a news conference.

London's police chief, Sir Ian Blair (no relation to the prime minister) said: "On Monday, if this (bill) is not passed, these men will be released. I think that would be a grave threat to national security."

With parliament off on Friday, Thursday was seen as high noon in the stand-off. But the special tribunal overseeing detention under the old measures made the deadline redundant.

Tribunal chairman Justice Ouseley ordered one of the 10 remaining detainees, an Algerian referred to only as A, freed under bail after more than three years held in maximum security prison without charge as an alleged al Qaeda-linked terrorist.

The judge said he intended to free the rest, including Abu Qatada, a Syrian cleric Britain says was the spiritual inspiration for Mohammed Atta, leader of the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers. Qatada and the others should be free in days.

BAIL CONDITIONS SHORT OF HOUSE ARREST

Their bail includes conditions similar to some of the measures Blair is seeking the power to impose under his new bill, such as electronic tagging and limits on communications.

A Home Office spokesman said it was "reasonable to assume" that the government would use the new powers to impose similar conditions on the suspects once the bill was passed to those that would be imposed by the judge.

But those terms are more lenient than the house-arrest power the government is now also seeking - much less the indefinite detention in high-security prison ministers argued for three years was absolutely necessary to stop a terrorist attack.

Blair has managed to push his bill through the elected House of Commons after making major concessions, notably allowing judges to review politicians' decisions to impose "control orders" that place restrictions on suspects.

But the unelected House of Lords, where Blair does not have a majority, rejected key parts of the bill on Thursday, raising the prospect of a series of "ping-pong" votes throughout the night between the two chambers until one side gives in.

By convention, the Lords are expected to back down and bow to the will of the elected chamber. But they appeared to be in no mood to uphold tradition on Thursday.

Blair has refused opponents' demands for a "sunset clause" in the bill whereby it would lapse entirely in six month, allowing legislators to start from scratch.

A total of 17 men, mostly north Africans and all Muslim, were held in the three years since Britain declared an emergency threat from al Qaeda and suspended parts of the European Convention on Human Rights to enact the special powers.

- REUTERS