---

Terrorism (Foreign Policy Aspects)

Thank you, Sir Nicholas. May I begin by wishing you and all the staff of the House a happy Christmas and peaceful and prosperous new year? I should like to refer to the report that was published in March just before the general election. It was the last report published by the Select Committee in the previous Parliament. It is a comprehensive report and it covers a wide area. In my introduction, I will not be able to go into all the areas in great detail, but I see that a number of colleagues from the Committee are here. I am sure that they will supplement, or even contradict, what I might say on some aspects, and they may refer to the parts that I do not touch on. There has been no let-up in terrorism internationally since the report was published. We know, sadly, from the events of 7 July in London and then 21 July that our country is now seriously threatened by radical terrorist groups. Fifty-two people were killed in London on 7 July; 700 were injured, many of whom are still recovering from their injuries and from the psychological impact of those bombs. As a London Member of Parliament, I have to say that the way in which Londoners responded—their resilience and calmness—was a tribute to this great city. Two weeks later on 21 July there were four more bombs, possibly copycat. Nobody really knows. Fortunately they failed to explode. Therefore we in London saw what many others have suffered at the hands of radical Islamist terrorist groups. On 23 July, two car bombs and a bomb placed in a suitcase exploded in the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and 88 people were killed, including 11 British tourists. On 1 October, three suicide bombers killed at least 23 people and injured around 150 others in Bali in Indonesia. Just a few days ago on 5 December, a Palestinian Islamic jihad suicide bomber blew himself up in a line of shoppers in the Israeli seaside town of Netanya and killed five other people. Since the destruction of its bases in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has become much more dispersed and decentralised. It is perhaps no longer appropriate to talk of al-Qaeda in the sense of one organisation. There are local franchises operating independently in many parts of the world. The al-Qaeda leadership, as such, is not necessarily in charge or control of, or even in regular contact with, those groups. The dispersal and break-up of al-Qaeda does not mean that the threat has been reduced. On the contrary, as the Committee has heard in recent evidence sessions, the threat may be much more difficult to cope with. We have heard from many witnesses about the shift towards home-grown cells, which has made it more difficult to prevent terrorist attacks. Attacks have been carried out by groups about which there was, from what I have been told, no intelligence beforehand. Moreover, because of the use of the internet, the terrorist organisations and terrorist cells may now no longer be travelling to terrorist training camps, but are getting the information in their home or neighbouring countries from other sources. The international community has not done enough to counter the internet and the use of the internet, not just for terrorist training purposes, but for propaganda by terrorist organisations. Our Committee has heard that there has been a serious failure in counter-propaganda and in public diplomacy. One of the difficulties that we confront is the perception, in large parts of the Arab and Muslim world, that there are double standards. Countering that perception is not made any easier when there are well publicised and well reported cases of abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, or torture, or pictures of people at Guantanamo Bay, which are, in a sense, propaganda victories for terrorist organisations and those who speak for them. The BBC has recently decided to restore, after a 10-year gap, a dedicated Arabic television service, paid for in part by reducing some of the European and other radio services. Our Committee pointed out in our report in July 2004 that the proposal for a BBC Arabic television service had not received additional funding in the Treasury spending review. Consequently, the decision has had to be pushed through at the cost of other BBC services. We have taken evidence on that matter recently and will no doubt return to it in another report. The BBC has a clear and important role in trying to counter the propaganda of those who justify and excuse terrorist organisations, but it is independent of our Government and must remain so. I hope that it will gain a significant viewing within the Arab world, so that it is not just al-Jazeera and similar channels that are broadcast throughout those countries. I shall say a little about the issue that has received so much publicity this week: extraordinary rendition. Perhaps my colleagues will also speak about that matter later in the debate. Extraordinary rendition was confirmed by Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State, as being a policy pursued by the US Government. She said:"““Rendition is a vital tool in combating trans-national terrorism. Its use is not unique to the United States, or to the current administration.””" However, she went on to say that"““the United States does not permit, tolerate or condone torture under any circumstances.””" The US Administration seem to believe that that statement and associated statements that they will not transport people from one country or another for the purpose of interrogation under torture will be sufficient to prevent further outcry internationally. I do not believe that that will be the case. I think that there are still many unanswered questions based on the so far unsubstantiated allegations that were made over the past few weeks. It is clear that hundreds of flights are taking place across the world by US aircraft associated with the Central Intelligence Agency. They carry we know not whom—or why; we do not necessarily know where. Questions are being asked in several different countries. There was an interesting exchange when the new German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, raised the matter with the US Secretary of State. There are reports of a man called Khaled el-Masri, a German national who claims that he was kidnapped in Macedonia, imprisoned in Afghanistan and released five months later in Albania. He is suing the former director of the CIA, George Tenet. There are worrying indications of the impact of the policy. The Foreign Secretary, holding the presidency of the Foreign Ministers Council, wrote on behalf of the European Union to ask the US Administration to respond to the press reports, and it would be helpful if the Government would make further requests about aspects of the matter directly relevant to this country, and not simply in general terms.