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TITLE: The 21 Groups Outlawed by Britain |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: AFP |
DATE: March, 2, 2001 |
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A list of the 21 groups banned by British Home Secretary Jack Straw over concerns they were involved in terrorism: Islamic groups Al-Qa'ida (The Base): Extremist Islamic group founded in 1989 by Saudi Osama bin Laden, believed to be living in Afghanistan. Dedicated to the fight against western influence in the Muslim world. Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad): Fundamentalist Egyptian group repsonsible for the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in Cairo on October 6, 1981, and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993. Announced decision to renounce violence in June 2000. Al-Gama'at al-Islamiya: Egyptian Islamic organisation which first surfaced in 1997. Responsible for several attacks in Egypt, including the asssult on foreign tourists in Luxor in November 1997 in which 62 died. Announced the end of its activities in March 1999. Armed Islamic Group (GIA): Algerian fundamentalist group founded in April 1992 to fight for a Muslim state in the north African country after elections were cancelled. Responsble for the massacre of thousands of civilians in Algeria and bomb attacks in France. GSPC: A dissident wing of the GIA created in October 1998 to set up an Islamic republic in Algeria. Headed by leading figures in the Islamic Salvation Front, the political party which was set to win the 1992 elections. Aden Islamic Army: Militant terrorist group fighting for an Islamic state in Yemen, linked to Osama bin Laden. Has claimed around 20 bomb attacks in southern Yemen between 1998 and 1999, as well as the kidnapping of 16 foreign tourists. Anti-Israeli groups Hezbollah: Lebanese political party opposed to the occupation of Palestinian lands by Israel. Created in 1982, Hezbollah has been repsonsible for heavy losses in the Israeli army. Hamas: Palestinian group opposed to Israel and responsible for some of the bloodiest and most lethal terrorist attacks against Israel. Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Fundamentalist Palestinian radicals, opposed to the existence of the Jewish state and equally opposed to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Created in 1980, Jihad was behind the Intifada of October 1987 and has claimed many serious anti-Israeli attacks. Abu Nidal Organisation: Dissident Palestinian group claiming dozens of anti-western and anti-Israeli attacks throughout the world. Founded in 1974 and opposed to Yasser Arafat, the group claims responsiblity for the murder of several high-ranking Palestinian officials and suspected of involvement in bloody terrorist operations in Vienna and Rome in 1985 and in the Jewish quarter of Paris in 1982. Separatist groups International Sikh Youth Federation: Exiled Sikhs who have set up a fund-raising network to support their cause, the establishment of an independent Sikh state in the Punjab. Babbar Khalsa International: A British arm of the Sikh separatist movement, whose name translates as "Tigers of True Faith". Particularly active from 1983 to 1991 during the separatist campaign against the Indian government. Harakat Mujahideen: A shadowy Muslim separatist movement operating in Indian Kashmir and opposed to Indian rule. Links with Osama bin Laden and responsible for many assaults on Indian troops. Formerly known as Harkat ul-Ansar, Harkat ul-Mujahideen (Movement of Holy Warriors) has openly claimed credit for a number of attacks on Indian troops. Jaishe Mohammed: Movement for independent state in Kashmir, frequently attacking Indian forces. Jaishe Mohammed (Army of Mohammad) was formed early last year by Maulana Masood Azhar, a leading Islamist figure who was released from jail in India as part of a deal to end an Indian Airlines hijacking in Decemebr 1999. Lashkar-e-Taiba: Militant Muslim Kashmiri separatist group, the Army of the Pure. Have set themselves the task of driving Indian forces out of Kashmir. Most spectacular recent suicide raid was on the Red Fort in New Delhi in December 2000. Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE): Created in 1972 to fight for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Offensive stepped up from 1987 onwards resulting in May 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected woman suicide bomber, one of the "Black Tigers", and killing of former Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa in similar fashion. Unresolved conflict in the northern Jaffna peninsula has left more than 60,000 people dead. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK): Kurdish separatist movement active in Turkey since 1984. Run by jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, condemned to death by a Turkish court in June 2000 for treason. In September 1999, the group declared an end to its armed campaign following a call from jail by Ocalan to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the conflict, which has claimed more than 36,000 lives. ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna): Basque separatist movement fighting the Spanish government for 40 years in support of claims for an independent Basque nation in the north of the country. Since the start of the struggle in 1968, some 795 people, military and civilian, have been killed. Opposition groups Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C): Turkish extreme-left group, responsible for the deaths of a former Turkish Justice Minister and several high-ranking army officers. Also behind the rebellion in Turkish prisons in December 2000. November 17 revolutionary Organisation (N17): Greek terrorist movement born out of the student uprising against the rule of the Greek colonels which was suppressed on November 17, 1973. Responsible for around 20 murders since 1975, including that of British military attache Stephen Saunders in Athens last June. People's Mujahedeen: Iranian opposition movement founded in Iraq in 1965 and fighting for a democratic socialist Islamic republic in Iran. Operations include mortar and other attacks on Iranian security forces and institutions of the regime Copyright © 2000 AFP. END |