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Britain to Deport Algerian Terror Suspects | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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LONDON (Reuters) – Four Algerian men held without trial in Britain as national security threats have agreed to be deported, sources told Reuters on Saturday.

Some of the men, who cannot be named because of a court order, have been held for up to four years, the BBC reported.

One of the detainees was expected to be leaving Britain on Saturday morning.

The Home Office said it could not comment on “operational matters.”

“It remains our view that those detained or on strict bail represent a real risk to the national security of this country,” it said in a statement.

“The Government’s priority is to protect public safety and national security. Where a foreign national living in the UK poses a threat to this country, we will seek to remove them,” it said.

Britain holds a number of suspects under controversial “control orders,” a form of arrest designed to track individuals the government sees as a threat, but against whom it lacks sufficient proof to prosecute in court.

The orders, which allow for electronic tagging, surveillance and virtual house arrest, were rushed through parliament in 2005 after judges threw out emergency post-September 11 powers to jail foreign terrorism suspects indefinitely.