London, Oct 28: Britain's government today proposed adding four groups to its list of banned terror organizations, including the southeast Asian group suspected of involvement in the Bali bomb attack and the ruthless Philippine extremists Abu Sayyaf.
Home secretary David Blunkett issued a draft order which
would outlaw Jemaah Islamiyah, suspected in the Oct 12 attacks
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, under the Terrorism
Act of 2000.
The order, which must be debated and approved by
Parliament, would also proscribe the Islamic movement of
Uzbekistan and the tiny Lebanon-based Palestinian militant
group Asbat al-Ansar.
The Terrorism Act bans 21 alleged international terror
groups, making membership in and support of them illegal.
"Recent events have served as a stark reminder that the
danger posed by global terrorism has not gone away," Blunkett
said in a statement.
"Proscription is not a power to be used lightly. The
government has always kept the list of proscribed
organizations under constant review and after taking all the
relevant factors into account, I am satisfied that these four
groups should now be added to it," he continued.
Jemaah Islamiyah _ the name means Islamic group _ is
believed to be seeking a Muslim super-state in southeast Asia
and is accused of being linked to the al-Qaida terror network.
The Islamic movement of Uzbekistan seeks to overthrow the
government of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who launched a
crackdown on unauthorized expressions of Islam in 1998.
Bureau Report
