Blair Wins Passage of Security Law

The House of Lords approved the measure without amendment Friday night after more than 30 hours of deliberations. The breakthrough came when Blair's Labor Party government agreed that lawmakers would have the opportunity to reject or rewrite the law next year.

Passage came the same day a judge freed on bail eight terrorism suspects, one of them an alleged spiritual leader for Al Qaeda. They had been held for up to three years at London's Belmarsh Prison under an existing anti-terrorism law.

Although the suspects were released, the judge set tight conditions for their bail similar to those envisaged in the new law. They are required to remain in their homes 12 hours a day, cannot use telephones and must wear electronic tracking bracelets. They also are barred from having meetings outside their homes or receiving visitors without court permission.

Blair argued that the new anti-terrorism bill was vital to help protect the British public from attacks such as the train bombings in Madrid, which occurred a year ago Friday. The old law, under which the eight suspects were detained without trial for as long as three years, was ruled illegal by Britain's highest court in December. It remains in force, but is due to expire Sunday night.

The prime minister accused his opponents of playing politics with the public's safety. He also argued that the unelected House of Lords had no right to defy the elected House of Commons, which had approved the government's version of the legislation.

"To continue to try to water down and weaken this legislation is wrong and should be stopped," Blair said before the House of Lords relented.

The best known of the eight released Friday was Abu Qatada, a Sunni Muslim cleric who has been described by U.S. and British officials as the spiritual inspiration to Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta.

The detention of the suspects at Belmarsh -- known as Britain's Guantanamo, after the prison at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- has long been a source of contention for human rights officials and activists.