UK to ban Islamist group al-Shabaab

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The UK government has said that it will ban the Islamist al-Shabaab group in the country, and designate it as being a terrorist organisation. The move was announced by UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

The ban needs to be approved by parliament before it can be implemented; however, the Associated Press reports that parliamentary approval is regarded as a formality, and the proposal will likely pass. The move would make membership in al-Shabaab illegal, and prohibit British residents from raising money for the group. Anyone found to be a member of the group could face up to a decade in prison.

HAVE YOUR SAY
Do you agree with this move?

Johnson described the move as being "tough but necessary", and was "not a course of action we take lightly."

Al-Shabaab is a group that controls most of southern Somalia. A statement released by the group last month said that the "jihad of Horn of Africa must be combined with the international jihad led by the al-Qaeda network". According to the BBC, that was the first time the group linked itself to al-Qaeda.

Alan Johnson also recently banned another Islamic group, Islam4UK.


Related news

Sources