The British government has announced plans for new laws on the detention of terrorist suspects, after three men failed to report to police Tuesday as required under official monitoring orders.
Home Secretary John Reid, in a statement to parliament, said the monitoring orders were imposed on the three men because it was believed they wanted to travel abroad for terrorist-related activities. He said authorities did not see the men as direct threats to the British public.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government created the control order system in 2004 as a way to monitor suspects deemed a general threat to national security but who have not been charged with specific crimes.
The system was put in place after Britain's highest court ruled that detaining suspects without trial is unlawful. Analysts equate the monitoring system to a loose form of house arrest.