Britain unveils plans for new terrorism powers

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain unveiled plans on Thursday for controversial new powers to extend the time police can hold terrorism suspects without charge -- but the compromise deal failed to appease critics.

Since taking over from Tony Blair in June, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said police powers need to be extended to allow them to deal with complex terrorism investigations that involve multiple plots and many countries.

But he has had to backtrack from simply raising the detention limit in the face of mounting opposition not just from political opponents and civil rights groups, but from senior legal figures and within his own Labour Party.

Instead, the new and complicated proposals would allow the government to use temporary measures only in extreme situations, permitting detectives to quiz suspects for a maximum of 42 days -- up from the current 28-day cut-off.

These additional powers, which would be subject to parliamentary approval, would expire after two months.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the measures were needed to address an increasing "serious and sustained threat".

Britain's security services have said they are monitoring thousands of individuals that pose a risk and so far this year 42 people have been convicted of terrorism offences.

But Smith said the new powers would only be used in exceptional circumstances.