Britain moves to ban 21 groups it says are linked to terror activity

By Jill Lawless, Associated Press, 2/28/2001 18:26

LONDON (AP) Acting under a tough new anti-terrorism law, Britain on Wednesday announced plans to ban 21 radical groups, including the organization of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden.

Many of the groups have no organized presence in Britain.

The new anti-terror measure, which took effect Feb. 19, empowers Britain to ban groups that commit violence abroad and to crack down on supporters who channel funds and recruits to terrorist organizations. Authorities had been expected to quickly make use of the new provisions.

The bans still need the approval of lawmakers.

The government's proposed list includes Greece's November 17, which has killed 22 people since 1975, targeting intelligence officials and diplomats; bin Laden's organization, al-Qaeda, which has been linked to a range of terror attacks including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa; and Abu Nidal, a group blamed for killing more than 300 people since 1973.

It also lists several groups seeking independent homelands, including ETA, which has killed 800 people in its 32-year quest for a Basque homeland independent from Spain; the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka; and the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey.

Also on the list are the Mujahedeen Khalq, which seeks to overthrow Iran's Islamic government, and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. More than half the groups on the list are militant Islamic organizations.

''Any perception that we are targeting Muslim groups or the Muslim community is entirely wrong,'' said Home Office Minister Charles Clarke.

''We are determined to isolate and attack international terrorist organizations. We make no presumption that Muslim groups are any more or less likely to be terrorist.''

Massoud Shadjareh, who chairs an unofficial London-based group called the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said the law runs counter to the ''legitimate struggles'' of many Muslims.

''Struggles in Palestine and Kashmir, for instance, are undertaken by the indigenous population against illegal occupation. International law accepts that such struggles are perfectly just,'' Shadjareh said.

There had been speculation that the government would move to outlaw violent animal-rights activists, but no domestic organizations are on the list.

''There was a view that it wouldn't strengthen our ability to deal with such organizations,'' Clarke said.

Before the ban takes effect, the list contained in a draft order by Parliament must be debated and approved by the Commons and the House of Lords, a process expected to take four to six weeks.

The new anti-terrorism law broadens the definition of terrorism to include religious or ideologically motivated violence and acts, such as disruption of power or computer systems.

It also forbids fund-raising for a banned group, possessing information considered useful to terrorists, posting weapons-making instructions on the Internet, speaking at meetings of a banned group, or even wearing a T-shirt promoting one of them. Critics say some of those provisions unfairly restrict freedom of speech.

Under the new measure, a suspected terrorist may be arrested without a warrant and detained for up to a week without charge.

Britain has long been criticized by many governments abroad for serving as a haven for groups regarded in their homelands as terrorist organizations.

Until now, Britain unlike the United States had not maintained a list of foreign organizations banned from operating on its soil. Only groups involved in violence in Northern Ireland have been prohibited.

While a few of the groups on the government's list such as the Tamil Tigers operate openly in Britain, many have no known presence in the country. Most have never attacked British targets.

The Tamil Tigers, who had threatened to end a unilateral cease-fire in their war with Sri Lanka's government if they were banned in Britain, said Wednesday they were still committed to a peace process but sharply criticized the legislation.

''The peace initiatives depend precariously on the leniency or the harshness in which this draconian legislation will be implemented by the law-enforcing agencies in Britain,'' chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said in a statement released by the Tigers' London office.

Clarke denied Britain had been pressured by foreign governments to add certain groups to the list.

''A number of foreign governments have made representations, but that is all they have done,'' he said. ''The decision was made independently.''

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001