Websites inciting terrorism to be blocked

London, Aug 17 (UNI) Websites inciting acts of terrorism or giving instructions on how to make a bomb could be blocked under counter-terrorism plans announced by European ministers.

There are plans to create a flying squad of counter-terrorism experts and give Muslim clerics European Union training, as well as introduce positive profiling of air passengers based on biometrics rather than ethnic background.

The police appeared to believe that there was material of a ''substantial nature'' emerging from their inquiries into the alleged plot to blow up airliners bound for the US, Home Secretary John Reid said yesterday.

After a meeting of interior ministers, Mr Reid said the terrorist threat was Europe-wide and needed to be tackled on an international level. The interior ministers were briefed by Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the MI5 Director-General and Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, the head of special operations at Scotland Yard.

''What is clear to all of us is that we face a persistent and very real threat across Europe. It is a threat we face here in Britain as individuals and as communities, but it is not unique to the UK. It affects us all across the European Union,'' Mr Reid said.

The meeting was attended by ministers from Finland, France, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. Franco Frattini, the European Commission Vice-President and Gijs De Vries, its counter-terrorism co-ordinator were also present at the meeting. Many of the measures discussed are already part of the EU action plan put forward during the British EU presidency.

Signor Frattini said that the internet should be made a ''hostile environment'' for terrorists. ''I think it's very important to explore further possibilities of blocking websites that incite to commit terrorist actions,'' he said, adding that he would propose EU training for imams as part of a drive to prevent the radicalisation of Muslims.

Other proposals include a greater sharing of information between EU police forces, more research on explosives, particularly liquid-based ones, and further attempts to improve the traceability of commercial detonators and explosives. The ministers pledged 237,000 pounds for urgent research into detecting liquid explosives, as well as the continued development of a Europol database on weapons and explosives.

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