December 18, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 19, 1429

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: The Indian parliament on Wednesday approved tougher anti-terrorism laws in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, including the setting up of an FBI-style agency to plug gaping holes exposed by the atrocity.

The changes also allow for the detention of alleged militants for up to 180 days instead of 90, special courts to try suspects, sweeping police powers and the possibility of a financial clampdown on suspects.

MPs cutting across party lines voted in favour of major amendments to India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) law in parliament’s elected 543-seat lower house to give sharper teeth to the existing legislation.

“The bill (amendments) are passed unanimously by this house,” Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said after a debate which lasted eight hours and was inspired by last month’s attacks on financial capital Mumbai.

“I assure the laws are not the only steps and we are taking many steps to combat terrorism as this nation cannot afford to lower its guard,” Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told parliament.

The government separately also announced it was setting up police posts along its vast coastline to reinforce maritime security.

“These stations are required for the defence, policing and vigilance purposes in coastal areas whose nature of work requires special consideration,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

In parliament, Chidambaram said he had taken into account the views of rights activists and promised “the best possible balance” in prosecuting terror suspects “without disregarding what are considered fundamental human rights.”

The setting up of a National Investigations Agency, styled on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), also comes after decades of opposition from India’s 29 states, which had argued such a body would usurp their local law enforcement powers.

Chidambaram also proposed special anti-terror squads and regional units of the counter-terrorist National Security Guard, currently headquartered in New Delhi.

The security establishment, long criticised for lacking a cohesive counter-terrorism strategy and poor intelligence gathering and analysis, faced severe criticism after the Mumbai attacks.

Faced with national outrage, the government had apologised for its inability to detect the Mumbai plot. It promised to rectify the intelligence lapses that came to light during the 60-hour siege, which killed 172 people, including nine gunmen, and wounded nearly 300 others.—AFP