Blair hints at battle over terror questioning

BRITISH Primer Minister Tony Blair has raised the prospect of a fresh political battle over proposals to be able to detain terror suspects for 90 days without charge.

Plans to introduce the measure last year led to his first Commons defeat and calls for him to resign when he failed to convince many of his MPs it was necessary.

Police want the powers so they have time to build a case against suspects they believe pose a threat. Opponents believe locking up an individual for such a long time without charge would be an affront to liberty.

Calls for tougher measures to combat terrorism were bolstered recently by the sentencing of al-Qaida plotter Dhiren Barot to 40 years in jail for plans to blow up targets in Britain and the US. His expertise in counter-surveillance techniques, aliases and skilled use of encryption software meant police had little admissible evidence when he was arrested in August 2004. They then just had 14 days, the maximum custody limit at the time, to build a case against him before charging or releasing him.

This helped convince counter-terrorism officers that tackling such a complex case in the future would require suspects to be held for a longer period of time.

However details of the case were only made public when Barot was sentenced last week and the Commons rejected the 90-day proposals last November, instead raising the limit to 28 days.