Extremist clerics to be barred from UK

Britain's interior minister Charles Clarke has instigated a review of his powers to exclude and deport people likely to incite terrorism, the Daily Telegraph said.

It added that radicals like Yussef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric who has visited Britain from his home in Qatar and who has backed suicide bombers in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, could be stopped from entering Britain.

The new powers are particularly aimed at Islamic clerics who have encouraged disaffected young British Muslims to become radicalised and potential suicide bombers, it said.

Anyone attempting to enter Britain who has been previously excluded from the United States or the European Union will have his or her case immediately referred to Home Secretary Clarke for a decision.