Author: Reuters
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: March 1, 2001
TWENTY-ONE TERRORIST outfits including
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba have been
banned in the United Kingdom under the New Terrorism Act 2000. Britain
labelled these groups on Wednesday as "terrorist" organisations under the
new legislation designed to halt funding and support for militant groups.
The list includes Tamil, Kashmiri
and Basque separatist groups, militant Arab and Muslim organisations, Sikh
and Kurdish groups and Iran's opposition People's Mujahideen.
"I am entirely satisfied that the
organisations named... are concerned in terrorism," Home Secretary (Interior
Minister) Jack Straw told parliament.
Straw unveiled the list -- which
is subject to parliamentary approval -- a week after Britain's Terrorism
Act came into force, making it an offence to belong to any of the banned
groups, support or raise funds for them.
"The United Kingdom has no intention
of becoming a base for terrorists and their supporters, nor to see it flourish
abroad, and we will take every legal action at our disposal to prevent
this," Straw said.
The act creates a new offence of
incitement in Britain to carry out specified "terrorist" offences abroad.
The definition of terrorism is also widened to the use or threat of violence
to advance a "political, religious or ideological cause."
The move follows years of lobbying
by governments, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, who accuse Britain
of offering safe haven to groups waging violent campaigns in their countries.
Sri Lanka had warned Britain that
failure to put the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the
list of banned groups would impose "considerable strain" on relations.
The Tigers responded to the ban
by saying it would hinder a bid for peace talks between the guerrillas
and the government.
VARIETY OF GROUPS ON LIST
Also on the list are Saudi dissident
Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida and a number of Algerian, Egyptian, Lebanese
and Palestinian militant groups, including the military wings of Hamas
and Hizbollah.
The Greek urban guerrilla group
November 17, which killed Britain's military attache to Athens last June,
was named, as well as the Basque separatist group ETA.
Officials said some of the groups
had no history of attacks against British targets or major support in Britain.
But their calculations in deciding
which groups to ban included "the need to support other members of the
international community in the global fight against terrorism," junior
Home Office Minister Charles Clarke told reporters. The legislation replaces
laws aimed primarily at containing the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland.
It makes it an offence in Britain
if someone "wears an item of clothing...in such a way...as to arouse reasonable
suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation".
Human rights groups say the law
could leave legitimate campaigners at the mercy of authoritarian governments.
"There is a danger that prosecuting
such 'inciters' may be prompted by overseas repressive governments targeting
opponents based in this country," Amnesty International warned.
Clarke said the new laws were not
aimed at people protesting peacefully or raising funds for legitimate political
or humanitarian purposes.
