UK to deport 7 foreigners

LONDON – Britain yesterday detained seven foreigners pending deportation and pushed ahead with plans to hold terror suspects for three months without charge as it toughened its stand since the July bombings.

The government declined to name those arrested or reveal their nationalities but sources cited by Britain’s Press Association said they were among eight North African men cleared earlier of a plot to use the poison ricin. In the wake of suicide bombings in London in July which left 52 innocent people dead, Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he would use his powers to deport and exclude foreigners engaging in behaviour deemed to threaten security.The foreigners were seized in dawn swoops supported by police in London and Britain’s third city of Manchester in northern England, and were being held in prison, said a spokeswoman at the Home Office, which is in charge of policing.The spokeswoman told AFP that immigration officials detained the seven in line with Clarke’s “powers to deport individuals whose presence in Britain is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security.”Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they helped the immigration service “safely” detain one of the seven.A spokeswoman for London’s Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead on national security, confirmed their officers aided the immigration service in swoops at several addresses in the capital about 6am.”A number of people were detained by the immigration service and police assisted with the transfer of these people into the care of the prison service,” she said.Human rights groups have expressed concern over the government’s desire to deport hardline Islamists to countries where they may face torture or even execution.The Press Association news agency cited unidentified sources as saying the seven detainees were among eight co-defendants acquitted at a court in April of involvement in a plot to poison Londoners with ricin.In April, the Old Bailey criminal court in London found Algerian immigrant Kamel Bourgass guilty of conspiring to cause a public nuisance through the use of poisons and explosives.- Nampa-AFPIn the wake of suicide bombings in London in July which left 52 innocent people dead, Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he would use his powers to deport and exclude foreigners engaging in behaviour deemed to threaten security.The foreigners were seized in dawn swoops supported by police in London and Britain’s third city of Manchester in northern England, and were being held in prison, said a spokeswoman at the Home Office, which is in charge of policing.The spokeswoman told AFP that immigration officials detained the seven in line with Clarke’s “powers to deport individuals whose presence in Britain is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security.”Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they helped the immigration service “safely” detain one of the seven.A spokeswoman for London’s Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead on national security, confirmed their officers aided the immigration service in swoops at several addresses in the capital about 6am.”A number of people were detained by the immigration service and police assisted with the transfer of these people into the care of the prison service,” she said.Human rights groups have expressed concern over the government’s desire to deport hardline Islamists to countries where they may face torture or even execution.The Press Association news agency cited unidentified sources as saying the seven detainees were among eight co-defendants acquitted at a court in April of involvement in a plot to poison Londoners with ricin.In April, the Old Bailey criminal court in London found Algerian immigrant Kamel Bourgass guilty of conspiring to cause a public nuisance through the use of poisons and explosives.- Nampa-AFP