Britain may add Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan its terror list along with other three groups
Associated Press
October 28The British government is seeking to add four groups to its list of banned terror organizations, including a Southeast Asian group suspected in the deadly Bali bomb attack.
Home Secretary David Blunkett issued a draft order Monday that would outlaw Jemaah Islamiyah, the group suspected in the Oct. 12 attacks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
The order, which requires approval by Parliament to take effect, would also proscribe the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; the Philippines' Abu Sayyaf group; and the Lebanese-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.
Jemaah Islamiyah seeks a Muslim super-state in Southeast Asia and is accused of being linked to the al-Qaida terror network.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan wants to overthrow the government of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who launched a crackdown on unauthorized expressions of Islam in 1998.
Last fall, the U.S. government designated the movement, which has been linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban, as a terrorist organization. The Uzbek government blames the group for several border incursions and a series of bomb blasts in Tashkent.
Abu Sayyaf is a Muslim militant group that has also been linked to al-Qaida. It has carried out repeated kidnappings and killings in the Philippines.