Suspects detained under new powers

Eight people seen as a threat to Britain's national security have been arrested and detained without trial since Home Secretary David Blunkett declared a state of national emergency and gave himself powers to lock up terrorist suspects indefinitely without charge.

Others are in prison facing extradition to stand trial abroad and some, including two men who appeared before Leicestershire magistrates yesterday, have been charged under existing terror laws.

Mr Blunkett's new Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act plugged a loophole which allowed up to 20 foreign nationals to remain at large although seen as a public threat.

The suspects, who all claimed asylum here, cannot be deported to their own countries because there is a risk they could be persecuted or killed. Security services see them as dangerous fundamentalists but they cannot be prosecuted, sources say, because the evidence against them would either put covert operatives at risk or be inadmissible in court because it was obtained through bugging techniques.

The new powers mean the Home Secretary can take them off the streets while they remain in Britain although they are free to leave if they can find another country to accept them.

Of the eight so far arrested and held under the new powers, Algerian Djamel Ajouaou has voluntarily left for Morocco, leaving his wife and children behind.

The other seven arrested on 19 December are in Category A units within Belmarsh jail and Woodhill. They have not been identified and it is unclear what they are supposed to have done.

They are being held in single cells on wings which also house inmates classified as high risk, including murderers.

Although there is no limit placed on their legal visits, family or friends are not allowed to see them until they have been vetted by detectives.

The inmates' clothes may have to be left outside their cell each night and the cell light kept on 24 hours a day to allow frequent visual checks. Two officers and a dog handler have to escort them if they move within the jail, while any court appearance requires a police escort.

Mr Blunkett's sparing use of the new powers has reassured observers in Westminster but Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes made clear that from next week he will seek reassurances about the quality of the evidence against the detainees.

Meanwhile, there are still grave concerns that some individuals regarded as key players in al Qaeda's terror network vanished before they could be picked up under the new laws.

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon, and one of a handful of MPs dedicated to scrutiny of the powers as well as rigorous examination of London's central role as a haven for fundamentalist extremists, said: "I have always thought there were potentially about 20 suspects in the frame. A couple have been charged under anti-terrorism legislation, eight were picked up and detained in December and there are others who seem to have vanished."