JAKARTA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian parliament on Friday endorsed new anti-terrorism laws which grant more power to police to take pre-emptive actions, as the nation aims to fight a surge in homegrown militancy marked by a spate of bloody suicide attacks.
Pressure to revise a 2003-law had mounted days after suicide bombers staged attacks in three churches and a police headquarters in Surabaya city, the provincial capital of East Java, and another strike in a police headquarters in Riau province, which included children in the mission.
Under the revised law, the country's anti-terror squad is allowed to detain terrorist suspects for a longer period and prosecute those who engage in recruitment of militant cells or taking parts in their activities.
Chairman of the committee for the revision Muhammad Syafii said the law aims to restrict the move of the militants and prevent emerging of terrorist acts.
"There are many new articles which include acts previously only classified as crime, into terrorism acts category," he said at the parliament building.
Among them are an intellectual actor, deliberating hate speeches linked with terrorism, joining recruitment for paramilitary or recruiting people for the purpose, he said.
Indonesia has long battled Islamic militants, whose worst-ever attack was the 2002 Bali Bombing which killed over 200 people, most of them foreign holiday makers.
The recent suicide attacks in Surabaya city of East Java and Riau province left 32 dead and dozens of others injured.