THE Government dropped another part of Tony Blair’s 12-point plan to combat terrorism yesterday, as it unveiled proposals to tackle the threat posed by radicalised Muslims who turn to terror.

In another move, Ruth Kelly, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, will take charge of the efforts to improve the lives of Muslims in poor areas, as part of the new counter-terrorist strategy. Officials in the Home Office had had this responsibility previously.

A plan to put a time limit on extradition cases involving terror suspects was abandoned after consultations involving Home Office officials and the Government’s law officers.

The decision was disclosed in the annex of a 29-page Home Office paper outlining the Government’s strategy for countering international terrorism.

It is the second point of the Prime Minister’s hastily drawn-up plan to be abandoned. Last year the Government dropped Mr Blair’s proposal to give police the power to close mosques suspected of having links with extremists, after opposition from Muslim leaders and the police.

Despite Mr Blair promising last August to ban Hizb-ut-Tahrir, no action has been taken by the Government.

Since the July 7 terrorist bombings, the Government has carried out a review of its policies across all departments and has concluded that more effort is needed to try to prevent young Muslims from becoming extremists.

However, a senior Whitehall source said there would be no question of the Government changing its foreign policy in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan, despite evidence that the death of Muslims in these countries had partly motivated the suicide bombers.

The revised strategy will focus on the root social causes behind the radicalisation of a small percentage of Britain’s 1.9 million Muslims, including feelings of personal alienation and the perceived sense of grievance among those who are most vulnerable to radical ideas. Muslims living in deprived areas are likely to be targeted with more resources.

The review of counter-terrorist strategy has been carried out under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Mottram, the Cabinet Office Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator and chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Last year Muslim groups published their own report called Preventing Extremism Together, and the Government has been criticised for allegedly failing to respond to their 60 recommendations.

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