UK to introduce toughanti-terror laws by Dec

The news came as the death toll from the country's worst terror attack rose by one to 56, and as a report linked Britain's support of the Iraq war to the July 7 atrocity, turning up the heat on Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he and his counterparts in the main opposition Conservative and smaller Liberal Democrat parties agreed in principle to co-operate on the draft legislation following hour-long talks.

"We believe that is the right way to go and we believe that it will enable us to address the threat we face with a unity and determination which is critical," Clarke, flanked by David Davis of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats' Mark Oaten, told reporters.

The bill is expected to be put before lawmakers in October when parliament reopens after its summer recess and become law by December.

The interior minister wrote to opposition parties Friday outlining plans for the bill that would outlaw the indirect incitement of terrorism, for example preachers who praise suicide bombers or describe them as martyrs.