Britain is set to ban 15 more international terror groups, mostly aligned to al Qaeda network, under the Terrorism Act 2000, the Home Office announced on Monday.
Among the groups in the list published by British Home Secretary's Office are Islamic organizations Ansar Al Islam, Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, Al Ittihad Al Islamia and Ansar Al sunna.
An outfit termed a proscribed organization under the Terrorism Act 2000 can be punished by a ten year jail term.
Under the act, Home Secretary has the power to proscribe any organization which he believes "is concerned in terrorism".
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Once an organization is outlawed in the UK, it is a criminal offence for anyone to belong to, support or display support for a proscribed group.
"Recent events in London and elsewhere in the world have shown all too clearly that the threat posed by global terrorism has not gone away," Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in the statement.
"The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review and, after careful consideration of all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that these groups should now be added to it," he said.
The groups listed on Monday are Al-Ittihad al-Islamia, Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Sunna, Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami, Harakat-ul-Jihad-ul-Islami (Bangladesh), Harakat-ul-Mujahideen/Alami, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, Islamic Jihad Union, Jamaat ul-Furquan Jundallah, Khuddam ul-Islam Lashkar-e Jhangvi, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan.
The Home Office statement said the Terrorism Bill, to be published shortly, would also amend the Terrorism Act 2000 to allow the proscription of organisations which glorify terrorism. It would also deal with proscribed organisations which change their names in an attempt to evade the law, by continuing the ban to the renamed organisation.
"The United Kingdom is committed to playing a leading role in the international campaign against terrorism and sending the clear message that we are not prepared to tolerate terrorism here or anywhere in the world," Charles said in his statement.
"The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review and, after careful consideration of all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that these groups should now be added to it," he said.
Ansar Al Islam is a radical Sunni Salafi group, formed in 2001 in north east Iraq. It is thought to have a mixture of Iraqi and non-Iraqi members, mostly Arabs and Kurds and to operate a network in Iran. It is closely associated with the insurgency and terrorism in Iraq and has links to al Qaeda.
Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain has been linked to the May 2003 Casablanca bombings and the March 2004 Madrid train bombings. Its primary objective is to replace the governing Moroccan monarchy with a new governing system but it is also linked to al Qaeda.
Ansar Al Sunna is a fundamentalist Sunni Islamist extremist group based in central Iraq. It aims to expel all foreign influences from Iraq and create a fundamental Islamic state. Aligned to al Qaeda, it is responsible for many attacks on multi-national forces within Iraq.
Al Ittihad Al Islamia, which aims to establish a radical Sunni Islamic State in Somalia is aligned to al Qaeda.
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