Sunday, September 18 2005 11:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Around two-thirds of British Muslims approve measures introduced following the London bombings to deport militant Islamic clerics from the country, a poll showed today (Sept 28, 2005).

According to the survey for Sunday's News of the World newspaper, 65 percent backed the Government plans, while 27 percent did not.

Following the July 7, 2005 bombings which killed 56 people, including four presumed suicide attackers in London, and an apparent failed repeat attack two weeks later, the Government of Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged a host of new measures.

Among these are new rules to expel foreign nationals who praise terrorism or advocate it, such as hardline Muslim cleric Omar Bakri. He left Britain voluntarily in August for Beirut, but was later told he could not return.

The Government has tried to widen the deportation process by making deals with a series of Middle Eastern and North African nations guaranteeing that nationals deported will not be mistreated or tortured on their return.

All four of the July 7 attackers were later identified as being Muslim British nationals, three of Pakistani origin and one from the Caribbean.

The poll said that nine out of 10 Muslims would inform the police if they suspected a fellow Muslim was planning a terror attack, while five percent would tell no one. Just over two thirds said Britain's Islamic community had a lot of responsibility for rooting out Islamic extremists, while 19 percent said it had a little while just 9 per cent denied responsibility.