The conviction of an Algerian man for plotting
poison attacks in London has focused new attention on Britain's asylum
policy just three weeks before a general election.
The political opposition is hammering the government of Prime Minister
Tony Blair for its handling of the case of Kamel Bourgass, an Algerian
convicted of murdering a policeman and plotting a terrorist attack.
The leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Michael Howard, says
Bourgass should have been deported long before he concocted his plot, since his application
for asylum already had been rejected.
"Kamel Bourgass, an al-Qaida operative, should not have been in Britain
at all," he said. "He was one of the quarter of a million failed asylum
seekers living in Britain today who should have been deported. His case
underlines the chaos in our asylum system."
The Conservatives propose stricter border controls and asylum
procedures as they try to tap into voters' anger over those issues before
May's general election.
Mr. Blair's home secretary, Charles Clarke, admits the Bourgass case
underscores the problem of dealing with a backload of asylum
files.
"I am not absolutely confident that the processes are as
they should be. We've reduced the time taken for applications to be
considered from a situation where 80 percent of them took about 20 months
to 80 percent taking two months. But it is still too long and I have to
concede that."
The Blair team is fighting to not be outflanked by the Conservatives on
security and terrorism issues.
Cabinet officers point out the Conservatives blocked a Blair initiative
to create national identification cards, and held up passage of a law that
gives police limited powers to place suspected terrorists under house arrest.
The Conservatives objected to both measures on grounds they could
violate civil liberties and be subject to abuse by authorities.
The convictions of Kamel Bourgass were revealed Wednesday when a court
lifted restrictions on media reporting of the trial. Eight other North
African men were cleared of conspiring in the case, which police say was
Britain's biggest terrorist plot since the 2001 attacks against the United
States.
But defense lawyers say the government exaggerated the threat and they
describe Bourgass as an anti-social loner with no evident ties to global
terrorism. |