LONDON, April 1: Prime Minister Tony Blair indicated on Thursday that Britain would speed up the introduction of compulsory identity (ID) cards following the arrest of eight terror suspects this week.

Britain was already planning to bolster its tough anti-terror laws, passed in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, but Mr Blair told his monthly news conference further measures were needed now.

"I think the whole issue of identity cards, which a few years ago were not on anyone's agenda, is very much on the political agenda here, probably more quickly even than we anticipated," he said.

His comments came days after anti-terror police carried out the biggest operation since the Sept 11 attacks, arresting eight Britons in and around London and seizing half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertilizer - prime bomb-making material.

British police also said they were working with Canadian authorities after they arrested software developer Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a 29-year-old Canadian with Pakistani parents, on Monday.

"We need to make sure in light of fresh information and operations such as the one that has just taken place that we are up to date with what is happening on the ground," Blair said. -Reuters