Commenting on the measures to strengthen Britain's existing anti-terrorist law, announced by Prime Minister Tony Blair on 24 August, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) declared that the British Muslim community 'has no sympathy whatsoever for any act of terrorism, local or foreign, Muslim or non-Muslim, state or individual', and pledged 'to support all just and legitimate measures to deal with the problem'. However, its Press Release of 25 August pointed out that 'in order to be successful and win the confidence of the law-abiding majority, the measures have to be impeccably correct and transparent as well as in full accord with the European and international human rights conventions and declarations'

The independent Muslim body, however, felt the proposed measures would make 'bad law in as much as they have been thought up either as a knee-jerk reaction against the Omagh outrage or to kowtow to President Clinton's super-power foreign policy of using surrogate terrorism to deal with outstanding problems in Washington's relationship with the Muslim world.'

It warned that 'in either case the new legislation carries the serious risk of compromising our own respect for civil liberties, rule of law and commitment to human rights' and expressed serious doubts that the new measures would answer the real problem of terrorism here or abroad. 'Instead they may sow the seeds of distrust and produce alienation and, probably, even abuse of the law'

.. The MCB said: "Instead of playing second fiddle to the US, Britain has to maintain its declared course of ethical foreign policy because the only alternative to such policy is an unethical foreign policy ...

The MCB also expressed alarm at the latest outbreak of Islamophobia and the tendency by many respectable media 'to connect each and every incident of violence with "Islamic terrorism" ...

The MCB hoped that the 'tendency first to glamorise fringe groups and then use them to create a scare and demonise the entire Muslim community' would cease now. (Source: The Impact International, September, 19981)