JURIST - Paper Chase: Blair unveils new anti-terrorism measures, bans two Islamist groups

[JURIST] British Prime Minister Tony Blair [official profile] on Friday announced a new set of measures to combat terrorism [statement text], saying anyone who "has anything to do with [terrorism], anywhere, will automatically be refused asylum in our country." Blair went so far as to say that the UK may review the 1998 Human Rights Act, which integrates the European Convention on Human Rights [text] into British law, to decide whether it provides enough room to adequately prevent terrorism. As part of the new plan to deport hardline Islamic clerics who advocate terrorism, Blair also announced [Reuters report] that his government will ban Hizb ut-Tahrir [Wikipedia backgrounder], an organization that claims its goal is to create an Islamic caliphate centered on the Middle East but denies supporting terrorism. Blair also said a successor organization to al Muhajiroun [Wikipedia backgrounder], a group that praised terror attacks in the US, will be banned as well. AFP has more.

10:34 AM ET - Hizb ut-Tahrir has struck back at Prime Minister Tony Blair's proposed ban of the radical Sunni group. British spokesman Imran Waheed called Blair's remarks "most unjust" and vowed the group would fight any ban via the courts. Ireland Online has more.

1:12 PM ET - The UK Home Office has published a press release on the newly-proposed anti-terror measures, as well as a brief consultation paper [PDF].

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