LONDON, ENGLAND, February 28, 2001: A total of 21 international organizations, recommended for proscription under the new Terrorism Act 2000, are listed in a draft Order laid before Parliament today by the Home Secretary Jack Straw. The draft Order will be subject to debates in and approval by both Houses of Parliament. Once approved, it will automatically go into effect. Straw said, “Proscription is an important power in the new Act – the UK 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.” Included in the list are 14 Muslim organizations, three of them active in Kashmir including Harakat Mujahideen, Jaish e Mohammed, and Lashkar e Tayyaba. There are two Sikh organizations, also active in India, Babbar Khalsa and International Sikh Youth Federation. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is listed, and its listing is so far attracting the most attention in the UK press. The law gives police powers to seize assets and arrest those who use violence or the threat of it “for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.” Even fund-raising or openly supporting a banned organization could lead to arrest.
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