---

Terrorism (Foreign Policy Aspects)

: I am not aware of such ambulance chasing. If it is going on, perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be kind enough to let me know who the individuals are and where they are touting for business. It is not the easiest environment to tout for business—at least not the parts of Iraq that I have visited—although I have no doubt that the profession is a proud and a resourceful one—let me put it like that. I turn to the great wodge of notes that I have made during this fascinating debate. I shall start by answering the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South. He asked what the Government have been doing to counter the internet propaganda of al-Qaeda and others. In 2005 the Foreign Office created a new resource to monitor radical websites, which has improved our understanding of the size and the nature of the problem. During our G8 and EU presidencies this year, we made tackling the terrorist use of the internet a priority. The G8 interior Ministers' meeting in June acknowledged the importance of the problem and called for an update on progress to counter such use at its meeting under the Russian presidency. On 1 December, the European Union justice and home affairs council announced a new strategy to counter radicalisation and recruitment. It includes action to tackle the terrorist use of the internet. It is an important matter and I am glad that my hon. Friend raised it. The issue is not an easy one to tackle. I spoke to the intelligence services of one EU member state—I shall say no more than that—who spoke about what they call self-combusters. I was told that a week before, they had arrested a 17-year-old man. He was from a respectable family of Algerian descent, with a hard-working mother and father. They had been picking up things on the internet but they could not understand what they were. They managed to track down the source and went to the house in question. The parents said, ““We don't know anything about this.”” When asked if they had any children, they said, ““Yes, we have a son.”” They went to the boy's room and found that he had already made his bomb—he got the recipe from the internet—and that he was about to make his valedictory statement before going out to find a target. He was going to blow himself up. That 17-year-old—that child—had images on his bedroom walls of martyrs with bandanas and Kalashnikovs and the rest of the paraphernalia. We should never discount that romantic image, nor the terrible promises of what such people will receive when they go to heaven. I think—and hon. Members have hinted at this—that something has to be said. I cannot answer the question about how many imams will be trained and so on. I sense strongly that it is something that the Muslim community in Britain has to do, but I would very much like to see some of the leading clerics say, ““If you commit suicide and kill people around you, you will go straight to hell.”” However it is interpreted, I do not believe that the Koran offers a passage to heaven and virgins—I cannot remember how many. Leading Muslim clerics are important to young Muslims in this country. That relationship is important, and those clerics must tell them that terrorists will go to hell for their actions. They are killing other Muslims, such as those who were killed in the London bombings. I met two uncles of one of those victims in Sylhet in Bangladesh just a few weeks ago. They were brave dignified men who were appalled that another Muslim could have slaughtered that beautiful young girl who had come to this country to find a good life. She was making a good life for herself. That tells us everything. I enjoyed the contribution of the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley). He asked what we were doing to protect the United Kingdom and its citizens against the dangers of weapons of mass destruction and chemical attacks by terrorists. I am glad that he mentioned the importance of understanding the significance of the coming together of weapons of mass destruction and terrorists. The right hon. Gentleman drew our attention—as does the report—to the dangers of old stockpiles of weapons. I represented the presidency of the EU at a conference on how best to deal with dismantling chemical weapons. The right hon. Gentleman will know that that is a vital, but enormously expensive process. I cannot remember the exact figure, but I believe that the Americans have set aside $32 billion for their programme to dismantle chemical weapons. They have already given the Russians $1 billion to facilitate their dismantling programme. The right hon. Gentleman vividly described the immediate dangers of those old stockpiles and how they must be guarded. That is the first line of defence. We are devoting considerable resources to that matter. New measures are being adopted, for example, the control, safety and security of radioactive materials in the UK and those being imported into the country. The Government are implementing a range of other initiatives, for example, work at our border points on detecting chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological material. The right hon. Gentleman is quite right to say that preparedness is the key. The UK has held a number of exercises in responding to a chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological attack, for example, the exercise at Bank underground station in 2004. The Government are investing considerable resources to bolster the capability of our front-line emergency services to deal with such attacks. Internationally, the UK is a leading player in promoting the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1540 of 2004, which aims to stop terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction.