Gordon Brown 42 detention proposal signals new defence of civil liberties inUK. He has warned that current terrorist threats are different in theirscale and nature from anything we have faced before. That in Britaintoday there are at least 2,000 terrorist suspects, 200 networks orcells and 30 active plots.

To assess the threat of Al-Qaeda related terrorism, I spoke toProfessor Paul Wilkinson, who is an internationally respected Britishterrorism expert. He is professor of international relations at theUniversity of St Andrews in Scotland and chairman of its Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence.

 

Should the period that terrorism suspects can be detained without charge be extended from 28 to 42 days?

I’m opposed to it. I haven’t seenany evidence that it is needed. I note that the Director of PublicProsecutions, who is an authority on these things, stated it isn’tneeded. I believe that such a long period of detention without chargeis a major infringement of fundamental civil liberties.

 

What do you think of the phrase ‘War on Terror?’
It is a very ambivalent phrase and I think it has got dangers attachedto it because it does imply that there is a military solution to thisproblem. Of course the military has an important part to play butphrase raises false expectations among the public that there can be akind of battle field victory, when terrorism is not that kind ofstruggle. It’s a covert struggle where the terrorists hide in the urbanenvironment mixing with the civilian population. It is cleverintelligence led policing that makes the difference then. It can not besomething solved by military means alone.

 Are we winning the battle against Al-Qaeda?
There has been nooperation by Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda affiliates on the scale of 9/11 since9/11. This is actually not just accidental; I think it is partly theresult of improved intelligence-sharing, improved cooperation betweenmany countries, not just the NATO countries but the wider coalitionagainst terrorism, including of course the Muslim countries. Thatsharing of intelligence is absolutely crucial in our struggle if we areto unravel this dangerous network, which is very widely dispersed (wereckon in about 60 countries it has an operational presence). It is avery complex, multi-pronged effort that is going to unravel thisnetwork and of course the battle of ideas

How has the war in Iraq affected Al-Qaeda?
Now,nobody who knows about the history of Al-Qaeda believes for minute thatIraq was the cause of Al-Qaeda. It began long before then and, ofcourse, it started its terrorist attacks on the West long before then. The fact of the matter is that Iraq, nevertheless, exacerbated thesituation and I firmly believe that it has provided a marvellous boostin the eyes of Al-Qaeda. It is almost a gift to the Al-Qaeda leadershipbecause it is constantly playing on the picture of Islam as the victimsin the world. The Muslim community, the Ummah, is the vic tim ofinjustices committed by Western states and by Israel, and thereforethey have to defend Islam and they claim that that is what they aredoing by conducting a violent jihad.

Should the UK governmentat some point in the future talk to Al-Qaeda, as was recently suggestedby Sir Hugh Orde, chief of the Police Service of Northern Ireland?
Ibelieve that the suggestion from the chief constable is based on amisapprehension about the nature of the Al-Qaeda movement. It is simplynot another international type of IRA. It is a very different movement.It is the most dangerous terrorist network we have seen emerging in thehistory of terrorism. Not only because it is dedicated to mass fatalityattacks as we saw in 9/11 but also because it is seriously interestedin acquiring weapons of mass destruction. It has recently issued avideo urging Muslims to obtain materials for weapons of massdestruction. Above all I believe that the Al-Qaeda movement has shownabsolutely no sign of any remorse about the deaths it has caused andshows no interest in launching a political front or entering intopeaceful politics. Therefore there is no political pathway as there wasin the case of the IRA.

How long is the threat from Al-Qaeda going to last?
That’sa very difficult question to answer because so much depends on thequality of the counter-terrorism measures and the degree ofco-operation between the US, Europe and the other countries, which arepart of the counter-terrorism coalition.  It also depends on thetactics and moves that are made by the leadership of Al-Qaeda and itsaffiliates. We have to recognise that this may be a long drawn outstruggle. It may take many years before we can safely say thisparticular threat has been extinguished. But I am optimistic even if ittakes a long time it can be done without sacrificing the rule of lawand human rights, which I believe is so important.

 

Hanif Adeel