Britain to seek more time to hold terrorism suspects

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) The British government plans a fresh attempt to extend the maximum period that police can hold terrorism suspects without charge, arguing a 28-day limit may be insufficient given the growing threat.

Ministers wanted to extend the pre-charge detention period to 90 days from 14 in November 2005 but parliament blocked that plan, setting the limit at 28 days.

Home Secretary (Interior Minister) John Reid ''now believes it's worth trying again to convince parliament and the nation that going further would be a useful tool in the counter-terrorism effort'', a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said today.

Police officers have told ministers they used the full period in recent cases and may need more time as cases become increasingly complex, Blair's spokesman said.

Detectives in Birmingham, central England, are currently questioning nine men over a suspected plot to kidnap and kill a Muslim British soldier.

Civil rights' campaigners said an extension to the pre-charge detention period would backfire, serving as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups.

''Further extensions to pre-charge detention would be desperately counterproductive. Terrorist recruiters would have a field day and we would all be less safe,'' said Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty.

Opposition politicians said they would need evidence that more time was needed.

''Long-established principles of due process have already been brought into question by the massive extension of pre-charge detention to 28 days,'' said Liberal Democrat parliamentarian Nick Clegg.

Britain has been on its second highest alert against potential attacks since four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people in London in July 2005.

Reid, under fire following a series of crises at his mammoth department, told fellow ministers on Thursday he would seek a political consensus on extending the limit.

''It's quite possible to envisage the police will need more than 28 days because the terrorist threat is becoming larger and more complex, because the scale of operations is increasing and the amount of evidence is growing fast,'' the spokesman said.

There had been no cases in which police needed more than 28 days, Reid said, but officers had used their full quota in the case against suspects who had allegedly plotted to blow up transatlantic planes in August.

Reid added he recognised the need to reintroduce ''balancing measures'' to reassure the public since the move could be portrayed as an ''arbitrary use of state power''.

Reuters SP DB2122