[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on Torture [official website] Manfred Nowak said Tuesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's plan to deport Islamic extremists [JURIST report] is likely to result in violations of international human rights law. While such laws prohibit Britain from deporting people to a country where they may face torture or death, Blair said he planned to obtain pledges from several countries in the Middle East, as he already has with Jordan, stating they would not subject the deportee to such treatment. Talks are underway with Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt to obtain their promises as well, but Nowak argues that diplomatic assurances would provide insufficient protection to the deportees in countries that systematically use torture. Blair has also stated he would consider amending the 1998 Human Rights Act, which integrates the European Convention on Human Rights [text] into British law, in order to ease deportations. AP has more.