'Isolate the radicals'

Tuesday, 24 March 2009 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

The home secretary has publishing a new set of counter-terrorism guidelines today, with a focus on isolating radical preachers and imams.

The strategy seeks to find "the widest possible range of support" across the Muslim community, but warns that even if al-Qaida fractures, its message could still have power on young, isolated men.

"We can't tackle terrorism simply from Whitehall," Jacqui Smith told the BBC.

"I don't think tackling terrorism is simply something we can rely on our police and intelligence agencies to do, brilliant though they are - we need to enlist the widest possible range of support."

Around 60,000 workers will be trained in spotting terrorist activity and first response techniques in the event of an attack.

"Terrorists will try to stay one step ahead of us," Ms Smith continued.

"But we've made sure that we've invested the resources, built the people - both in the police and in the agencies - and built the widest partnership necessary to give us the best chance of being able to deal with that threat."

The strategy appears to corroborate the practise of isolating and publicly rejecting those who preach that Islam is incompatible with the west, whether or not their statements are legal.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) condemned the proposals, entitled Contest 2, as a dangerous experiment in social engineering.

There will also be a renewed emphasis on chemical, biological and nuclear attack.

Tags:
• crime
,
• domestic policy
,
• policing and crime
,
• terrorism