Jacqui Smith faces inquiry into botched anti-terror raids



The botched anti-terrorist operation against a group of Pakistani students suspected of a bomb plot was last night threatening to embarrass the Government for years.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is facing an unprecedented inquiry into the raids by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terror laws.

The Home Office is also braced for a lengthy battle to deport the 11 Pakistani students, who were freed without charge.



One of the terrorist arrests in Liverpool - the 11 Pakistani students were freed without charge

And lawyers are planning appeals that could last three years and cost taxpayers £1million, claiming sending the 11 home will breach human rights law. If successful, they could even claim compensation.

The appeals are likely to expose the Government's record for deporting foreigners over national security, which is woeful despite Tony Blair's pledge in 2005 that the 'rules of the game have changed'.

Meanwhile, relations between the Government and the Muslim Council of Britain plunged after Gordon Brown was accused of ' dishonourable behaviour' for saying the Pakistanis were suspected of a 'big plot'.

The operation was brought forward following a security breach by Britain's top counter-terrorist officer.



Embarrassment: Jacqui Smith faces inquiry into the raids

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick was photographed outside No10 holding documents clearly marked 'secret' with details of an ongoing investigation. He quit over the blunder.

One of 12 suspects seized on April 8 was then released without charge after only a few days and handed to immigration officers.



Despite detailed searches of properties used by the men in Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire, officers found nothing significant.

On Tuesday, nine of the remainder were also released into the custody of immigration officials.

Yesterday the last two were released, after almost 14 days of questioning. One, a Briton, was allowed to walk free, while the second was detained with the others.

This leaves 11 Pakistanis - at least ten of whom arrived on legal student visas - in immigration detention, which costs taxpayers around £50,000 for each detainee.

The Home Office plans to deport them as a threat to national security. But a lawyer for at least three of the men, who are all in their 20s and had abided by the terms of their student visas, said they would fight their removal.

Mohammed Ayub, of Chambers Solicitors, Bradford, said: 'Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and were pursuing their studies and working. Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a serious breach of human rights.'

Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons terrorism sub-committee, said: 'We will be stuck with these people while they appeal against deportation. I challenge the Government to get rid of them.'

In his first review into an individual operation, Lord Carlile is expected to look at why so many arrests failed to yield any charges.

But Greater Manchester Chief Constable Peter Fahy, whose officers were involved in the arrests, insisted: 'I do not believe a mistake has been made. We don't carry out this sort of operation or make these sorts of arrests on a whim.'

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'This is yet another embarrassment for Jacqui Smith. Serious questions need to be answered about whether Bob Quick's blunder distorted this operation and on what grounds these men are being deported.'

Tory security spokesman Baroness Neville-Jones said it was 'very worrying' that no charges had been brought in a case Mr Brown had called serious terrorist plot.

Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that when the men were arrested 'in dramatic circumstances' the public were told they posed a serious threat.

He said it was unacceptable for the Government to make such prejudicial remarks from the outset and then, having found insufficient evidence to bring charges, try to deport the men anyway.



ANALYSIS: How it will end in a legal circus



By leaving top secret papers flapping for all to see in Downing Street, anti-terror chief Bob Quick ensured the arrest of the Pakistani Al Qaeda suspects began in high farce.

It is now certain to end in a legal circus at huge cost to the taxpayer.

For despite Tony Blair's 2005 pledge that the rules of the 'game are changing', Britain's record for deporting terror suspects over national security is woeful.

There remains the opportunity to lodge a string of appeals, aided by the Government's Human Rights Act.

And lawyers for the Pakistani students utilise these to the full.

The first step for the 11 students, who are in immigration removal centres, is to appeal against deportation to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) - scene of expensive battles between Government and human rights lawyers.

The Home Office must prove the men threaten national security and face no ill treatment in Pakistan.

The fact that no charges have been brought does not mean SIAC will consider the men innocent.



Much of the evidence it takes is given in secret, and does not have to meet criminal court standards.

But proving the threat to national security is the easy part. The real test comes in proving there would be no breach of the European Convention on Human Rights - enshrined here in the Human Rights Act - by deporting them.

Pakistan permits executions and tortures terror suspects, which is how the 11 would be treated.

The most obvious appeal their lawyers can make is to claim removal will breach their human rights because by effectively being labelled terrorists by Gordon Brown - when he said their arrest had foiled a 'very big plot' - Britain has guaranteed they will be illtreated by Pakistani authorities.

The number of deportations over national security since 2005 is thought to be as low as nine. Even Abu Qatada - Osama bin Laden's envoy in Europe - is still here.

If his case is any guide, the Pakistani students will be embarrassing ministers and police for years.