Posted on 10/28/2002 2:24:07 PM PST by knighthawk
Press release by the Home Office:
DRAFT ORDER TO OUTLAW FOUR ADDITIONAL TERROR ORGANISATIONS PUBLISHED TODAY
A draft order to proscribe four organisations with links to the Al-Qaida terrorist network was laid before Parliament today by Home Secretary David Blunkett.
The order will be debated by MPs and peers later this week and will be subject to approval by both Houses of Parliament.
Mr Blunkett is seeking to add the four names to the list of 21 international organisations already proscribed under provisions in the Terrorism Act 2000.
His proposal to extend the proscription list in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in South East Asia follows detailed consideration against the criteria in the legislation and evidence that all four organisations are “concerned in terrorism”.
The four new groups the Home Secretary is recommending for proscription are: Jeemah Islamiyah; the Abu Sayyaf Group; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Asbat Al-Ansar.
Specific offences relating to membership, support for and funding of a proscribed organisation are included in the Terrorism Act.
Once proscription of these organisations takes effect, it will be open to any of the terrorist organisations concerned – or any person affected by their proscription – to make an application to the Home Secretary for deproscription. If that application is refused, the organisation can then appeal to an independent tribunal, the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission.
Mr Blunkett said:
“Recent events have served as a stark reminder that the danger posed by global terrorism has not gone away.
“Since the Terrorism Act 2000 came into force just over 18 months ago, we have witnessed the devastating attacks in America and only this month, atrocities in Bali and other parts of that region.
“Proscription is not a power to be used lightly. The Government has always kept the list of proscribed organisations 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.
“I believe this will send a clear message that the United Kingdom is committed to playing a leading role in the international campaign against terrorists and their supporters – whether operating here or abroad.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Under Part II of the Terrorism Act 2000, the Secretary of State has the power to proscribe any organisation which he believes ‘is concerned in terrorism’. An organisation is ‘concerned in terrorism’ if it commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes or encourages terrorism, or is otherwise concerned in terrorism either in the UK or abroad. ‘Organisation’ is defined as including ‘any association or combination of persons’. Once the statutory criteria are satisfied, the Secretary of State then has discretion whether or not to proscribe a particular organisation.
2. In reaching his decisions, the Home Secretary also took into account a number of factors including:
• The nature and scale of an organisation’s activities
• The specific threat that it poses to the UK
• The specific threat that it poses to British nationals overseas
• The extent of the organisation’s presence in the UK
• The need to support other members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism
3. The earlier draft proscription order to proscribe 21 international organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000 was laid before Parliament on 28 February 2001 (Home Office press notice 058/2001). The order came into force on 29 March 2001.
4. Proscribed organisations can at any time make an application to the Secretary of State for deproscription. Should an application be unsuccessful, the organisation or any person affected by their proscription can then appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), set up under section 5 and Schedule 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
5. Information on the four organisations included in the explanatory memorandum attached to the draft order being laid before Parliament is attached below.
Jeemah Islamiyah (JI)
Aim . JI’s aim is the creation of a unified Islamic state in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Southern Philippines.
History: Jeemah Islamiyah (JI) is the name of an Islamist extremist group which is based in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Southern Philippines. JI is estimated to have approximately 200 members. Many of its members have been arrested in Singapore and Malaysia and we judge that the remaining members may have migrated to Indonesia. The top tier of JI leadership comprises two individuals. JI’s spiritual leader, Abu Bakar BAA’ASYIR, is based in Indonesia and also leads the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, an umbrella organisation for various Islamic groups. JI’s operational leader is Riduan Bin ISOMUDDIN alias HAMBALI, who has links with AL Qaida. HAMBALI is wanted by the authorities in Indonesia and Malaysia, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Attacks: In December 2001 thirteen JI members were arrested in Singapore. They had been planning attacks against several targets in Singapore including the British Council and High Commission and the US, Israeli, and Australian embassies. They planned to attack these targets with vehicle borne incendiary devices. JI is known to have links to Al Qaida. For JI, there is a note included in Schedule 2 to differentiate between this group and a political organisation with the same name which originated in Pakistan. Section 3(2) of the Terrorism Act ensures that only the group to which the note refers to is proscribed and not, as is otherwise the case, to other organisations operating under the same name.
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Aims: The precise aims of the ASG are unclear, but its objectives appear to include the establishment of an autonomous Islamic state in Mindanao.
History: Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is an Islamist extremist group which is based in the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The ASG was formed in 1991 by Abdurajak JANJALANI from the most radical elements of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Estimates of its numbers of members have ranged from 80 to 1200.
Attacks: The group has committed a number of kidnappings: 21 people of different nationalities were kidnapped from a tourist resort in eastern Malaysia on 23 April 2000; on 28 August 2000, an American citizen was kidnapped by ASG and held captive for eight months; and on 27 May 2001, the ASG conducted an armed raid on a holiday resort taking twenty people hostage and killing two of the American hostages during their captivity. The ASG has killed hostages when ransoms have not been paid. The ASG is known to have links to Al Qaida.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
Aims: The primary aim of the IMU is to establish an Islamic state in the model of the Taleban in Uzbekistan. However, the IMU is reported to also seek to establish a broader state over the entire Turkestan area.
History: The IMU was formed in 1998 out of a more general political Islamic resistance to the post-Soviet rule in Uzbekistan. Tahir YULDASHEV and Juma NAMANGANI were its leaders from the beginning. NAMANGANI, who was the military leader, is believed to have been killed in Afghanistan whilst fighting coalition forces. The political leader YULDASHEV survived the campaign. Prior to the fall of the Taleban, the IMU was based in Afghanistan and was closely affiliated with Al Qaida and the Taleban.
Attacks: In attacks in February 1999, the IMU launched a sophisticated bombing campaign in Tashkent, directed against the Uzbekistan regime. The close ties to Al Qaida and the Taleban meant that they often followed Al Qaida’s and the Taleban’s agenda rather than their own. Most of their energies were spent fighting the Northern Alliance rather than the Uzbek government. Usama Bin Laden (UBL) is widely reported to have given money and training to the IMU on the understanding that they followed his agenda in Central Asia.
Asbat Al-Ansar (‘League of Partisans’ or ‘Band of Helpers’)
Aliases: The Abu Muhjin group/faction, Jama’at Nour
Aims: The group aims to enforce its extremist interpretation of Islamic law within Lebanon, and increasingly further afield.
History: Formed in 1985, Asbat Al-Ansar is a Sunni Muslim terrorist organisation, based primarily in the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp, Ain Al Hilweh. Recently, leaders of the group have forged links with UBL. Asbat Al-Ansar now subscribes to UBL’s aims and objectives. Financial support from UBL has allowed significant development in the group’s capability, which increasingly seeks to carry out attacks against western interests.
Attacks: Terrorist action by Asbat Al-Ansar has so far been limited to small-scale bombings and assassinations, always within Lebanon. In August 1995, the leader of Asbat Al-Ansar was sentenced to death in absentia for the assassination of the leader of Al Ashbashi (the Ethiopian Organisation). Asbat Al-Ansar is believed to have been responsible for the murder of four Sidon judges in 1999. In January 2000, in their most significant attack, an Asbat Al-Ansar gunman attacked the Russian embassy in Beirut with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. A bombing attack in August 2002 against the home of a senior Lebanese prison guard is also reported to be the work of Asbat Al-Ansar. However, the group rarely claims responsibility for attacks. Alignment with Al Qaida and its international agenda has not yet led to a large scale Asbat Al-Ansar attack.
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
To quote the grand Mufti of Jerusalem circa 1948: "Kill them, Kill them all!" [refering to Jews in Israel] Of course this sentiment now is relevant for our friends the Islamists-- wherever this scum resides.
We will win the war on terror. The question remaining is how many of us will die before we get serious at winning.
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