Al-Qa'ida threat 'justifies new anti-terror laws'

Four thousand al-Qa'ida suspects and sympathisers are on M15's watchlist, the Home Office warned as it accelerated plans for new anti-terror legislation.

Ministers are actively considering a fresh attempt to extend the 28-day limit for which terrorist suspects can be held without charge because of the scale of the plots facing Britain.

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Opposition parties and civil liberties groups warned the Government against using the terrorist threat as a justification for undermining human rights.

Lord West of Spithead, the Security minister, disclosed that police and security services were monitoring 2,000 suspects and a further 2,000 sympathisers. Two hundred suspected terrorist cells are being watched, of which 30 are thought to be gathering the material to launch an attack in the near future.

Lord West, the former chief of defence intelligence, said: "I have come back to this after 16 months away from it and I was quite concerned when I saw what the level of threat is." He told BBC Radio 4: "The scale of this ... is quite dramatic."

His comments are a recognition that the terrorist presence in Britain is rapidly increasing. Last year, Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, said 1,600 suspects were being monitored.

Lord West warned Islamist gangs posed "a real threat to this nation" as he said he backed an extension of the 28-day limit. "I think ... there will be occasions when we need more than 28 days," he said. "How we exactly do that is something I hope we can come to some sort of consensus on, because I believe it is so important for this nation."

Lord Carlile of Berriew, the independent reviewer of counter-terrorism legislation, and Ken Jones, the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), have backed an increase.

Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, have said they want to proceed on the basis of consensus on the issue.

A Home Office source said there was a "new appetite" for returning to the subject, nearly two years after MPs rejected an attempt to bring in a maximum 90-day detention period. Plans for fresh legislation are expected to be published within two weeks.

Police will gain the power to question suspects after charge, and terrorism will become an aggravating factor in sentences for other offences such as fraud. It is thought unlikely plans to increase the 28-day limit will be set out at this point.