Islam4UK is banned.

[Lazy Lob]

Islam4UK banned under terror laws
A radical Islamist group that planned a march through Wootton Bassett will be banned under counter-terrorism laws, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said.

Islam4UK had planned the protest at the Wiltshire town to honour Muslims killed in the Afghanistan conflict.

The government had been considering outlawing the group - Islam4UK is also known as al-Muhajiroun.

A spokesman for Islam4UK told the BBC they are an "ideological and political organisation", and not a violent one.

Mr Johnson said: "I have today laid an order which will proscribe al-Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, and a number of the other names the organisation goes by.

"It is already proscribed under two other names - al-Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect.

"Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course we take lightly.

"We are clear that an organisation should not be able to circumvent proscription by simply changing its name."

Under the Terrorism Act 2000, a group can be banned if it "commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for, promotes or encourages terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism".

Groups can also be outlawed if they "unlawfully glorify the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism".

Islam4UK spokesman Anjem Choudary told BBC Radio 4: "What the people will see is if you don't agree with the government and you want to expose their foreign policy, then freedom quickly dissipates and turns into dictatorship."

He denied Islam4UK members were involved in violence: "I challenge anyone to authentically prove that any of our members have been involved in any violent activities or promoting violent activities or asking anyone to carry out any sort of military operations.

"We are always at pains to stress that we are an ideological and political organisation.

'Whatever price necessary'

"We won't be using those names and those platforms which have been proscribed, but I can't stop being a Muslim, I can't stop propagating Islam, I can't stop praying, I can't stop calling for the Sharia.

"That's something I must do, and ultimately I will pay whatever price I need to for my belief."

Speaking from Lebanon, Omar Bakri Muhammad, founder of al-Muhajiroun, told the BBC the decision to ban the group would "increase the popularity of al-Muhajiroun" and "force them underground".

On Sunday Islam4UK cancelled the march, saying it had "successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan".

The group denied members had planned to carry 500 empty coffins through the town.

The banning order will come into effect on Thursday and make it a criminal offence to be a member, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said plans for the march were "disgusting".

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/8453560.stm

Published: 2010/01/12 10:14:12 GMT

© BBC MMX

[Connaught Ranger]

Islamist group banned at centre of march row

1 hour 22 mins ago
http://l.yimg.com/i/i/uk/ne/reute.jpg (http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/*******online/SIG=114rh0n4s/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.*******.co.uk%2F) Keith Weir and Estelle Shirbon

Buzz Up!
Print Story (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100112/tuk-uk-britain-islamist-fa6b408.html?printer=1)


Britain has outlawed an Islamist group that provoked anger with a plan to march through a town where British troops killed in Afghanistan (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fc/al-qaeda.html) are honoured. Skip related content (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100112/tuk-uk-britain-islamist-fa6b408.html#ynw-article-part2)
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http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/ne/rtrs/20100112/11/2490546235-islamic-preacher-choudary-addresses-members-media-during-protest-supporting-shari.jpg?x=310&y=231&q=75&wc=389&hc=291&xc=25&yc=1&sig=28RFEoxKStBKuCXHh8xqjA--#310,231 (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100112/img/pts-islamic-preacher-anjem-3c011eeba3d2.html)
Islamic preacher Choudary addresses members of the media during a protest supporting the … (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100112/img/pts-islamic-preacher-anjem-3c011eeba3d2.html)


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After a media outcry and criticism from politicians, the group Islam4UK dropped plans to march through the town of Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, saying it had successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan.


Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the ban aimed to help prevent terrorism (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fc/terror-attacks.html). It will take effect on Thursday and make it a criminal offence to be a member of Islam4UK, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.


"I have today laid an order which will proscribe Al Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, and a number of the other names the organisation goes by," Johnson said in a statement.


"Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course we take lightly."


Johnson said the organisation was already banned under two other names -- Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect -- and militant groups should not be able to circumvent proscription simply by changing their names.


Prime Minister Gordon Brown (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fc/gordon-brown.html) last week denounced the group's plan to march through Wootton Bassett, where mourners regularly line the streets as coffins of British soldiers flown back from Afghanistan pass through on their way from a nearby air base.


The government is keen to show it is tough on Islamist radicals after a Nigerian who had studied in London tried to blow up a plane flying into the United States on December 25. With a general election looming in the coming months, ministers do not want voters to see Britain as a haven for extremists.


The leader of Islam4UK, Anjem Choudary, told BBC radio the ban would not prevent him from continuing his campaigns.


"We won't be using those names and those platforms which have been proscribed, but I can't stop being a Muslim, I can't stop propagating Islam, I can't stop praying, I can't stop calling for the sharia," he said.


"That is something which I must do, and ultimately I will pay whatever price I need to for my belief."


Islam4UK has links to Islamist militant leader Omar Bakri Mohammed, who has been banned from entering Britain.


Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College in London, said Islam4UK had only 50 to 100 full members, although the group attracted much bigger crowds at its events.


"Islam4UK is very much a group that seeks publicity, that wants to be in the public eye, that provokes people in this country, and as a result gets onto the front page of the Daily Mail," Neumann said.


"That's why the home secretary felt compelled to react."


Neumann described the group as a "conveyor belt" towards violent activities, citing evidence that numerous members had gone on to militant training camps in Afghanistan, where they had fought alongside the Taliban.


Choudary denied that any member of his group had ever been involved in violence and denounced the ban as a breach of freedom of expression.


(Editing by Steve Addison)


Connaught Ranger.

[MrScruff]

Nothing like a bit of thought policing

[Lazy Lob]

There's nothing like a wish coming true. Oh the irony.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3750/islamdemocracy.jpg

Christmas prezzy?

[Deathchant]

I saw these idiots on the news last night. They are just a bunch of attention whore anachists. Any real muslims would be ashamed of them.

[hulaku]

Good work.

Put that sh*thead Anjem Choudhary in jail.

[ggk]

now time for some arrest...

[JBH22]

Great news

[KoTeMoRe]

Attention whore. Check.
Anarchists? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
If anything they're as rigorist as a bunch of early Medieval monks...

[timetraveller]

Arrests must be followed up no point makin such an annoucement if these kind of traitors are still allowed to walk the streets ...

[Connaught Ranger]

How are they traitors?

[Dercius]

How are they traitors?

x2
Pack them in a freighter ship and unload them in Karachi

[nemowork]

Arrests must be followed up no point makin such an annoucement if these kind of traitors are still allowed to walk the streets ...

Cant exactly arrest them for something they've done before the law came into force. On the other hand 10 years for getting out of line in the future might quieten them down a bit.

Lets see which of the predictable talking heads turns up to explain how civil rights are only threatened if somebody else curtails them but not if an inclusive, liberal Labour government does.

Look like Keith Vaz was the first in the queue!

[coltfan111]

About time, good news indeed.

[nemowork]

Has Choudry made his inevitable TV appearance where he demands his right to free speech and the freedom of religious groups yet?

You have to admit if theres a prize for sheer shameless hypocrisy this year he's a front runner along with George Galloway.

[gazell]

Has Choudry made his inevitable TV appearance where he demands his right to free speech and the freedom of religious groups yet?

You have to admit if theres a prize for sheer shameless hypocrisy this year he's a front runner along with George Galloway.

I do not think, the government and a lot of MPs are far behind, if at all. It's almost funny, they ban them. It's a disaster, I think, to having to ban people and organisations. I more blame the government's doings that it has come to that, than the guys in question.

[Panchito12]

Whatever happened to the English "Transportation" Laws? It's time for the UK to get OLD SCHOOL and ensure that "Charlatan Choudry" is exiled to Baluchistan for life.

[Connaught Ranger]

Whats with the "English" comment?

Britain and the world has turned quite a few times since the days of transporting their problems

outside of UK Territorial waters, look what they created by following that mentality, the U.S.A. and the Republic of Australasia.p-)

Your comments would be better suited to a British National Party Website than MP.net.

Connaught Ranger

[Blackcatnursery]

Your comments would be better suited to a British National Party Website than MP.net.

Unfortunately it is groups like this that do so much for BNP recruitment.

Most people in the UK can see them for what they are a sad bunch of wannabe jihadists, who will just form another group Islam R Us

Government are wanting to be seen to be hard on groups like this in the run up to the election and if they get in will go all soft again

[Drew21]

If you in the UK check out yesterday evening's Newsnight. Choudary was on along with a member from a thinktank that opposes Islam4UK. It was like the Michael Howard interview where he refused to answer any questions, instead he went on with his usual rhetoric, even denying that he knew the other chap despite being his former solicitor.
Banning them brings them more attention and keeps them in the media spotlight, I think this is another case of the Government jumping straight into the middle of something without thinking it through. Similar to the BNP situation where every politician has to remind us that their political party oppose the BNP and what they stand for as though I don't already know that. The vast majority of the public aren't stupid, they know that the BNP aren't the nicest bunch, and its safe to assume that the politicians agree.
I am in no way advocating ignoring these sort of groups, but addressing every issue that they raise brings them and their ideas into the public eye all to often, give them enough rope to hang themselves, and when they do, then you ban them, then you bring about charges. In the mean time the UK has bigger fish to fry than a bunch of so called fanatics.

IMO

[Lazy Lob]

If you in the UK check out yesterday evening's Newsnight. Choudary was on along with a member from a thinktank that opposes Islam4UK. It was like the Michael Howard interview where he refused to answer any questions, instead he went on with his usual rhetoric, even denying that he knew the other chap despite being his former solicitor.
Banning them brings them more attention and keeps them in the media spotlight, I think this is another case of the Government jumping straight into the middle of something without thinking it through. Similar to the BNP situation where every politician has to remind us that their political party oppose the BNP and what they stand for as though I don't already know that. The vast majority of the public aren't stupid, they know that the BNP aren't the nicest bunch, and its safe to assume that the politicians agree.
I am in no way advocating ignoring these sort of groups, but addressing every issue that they raise brings them and their ideas into the public eye all to often, give them enough rope to hang themselves, and when they do, then you ban them, then you bring about charges. In the mean time the UK has bigger fish to fry than a bunch of so called fanatics.

IMO

Good catch. What a blustering tw@t. But I agree that Alan Johnson is just banning them for political gain in May. Typical of our political stock.

[IraGlacialis]

To state the obvious, it's likely that Choudary and his followers will just create a similar group under a different name in a few months.

I saw these idiots on the news last night. They are just a bunch of attention whore anachists. Any real muslims would be ashamed of them.
Apparently there was at least one major Muslim organization that was planning on doing a counter-protest if Islam4UK went ahead with their march at Wootton Bassett.
http://www.bmsd.org.uk/articles.asp?id=48

[pg_ord]

^These organizations deserve state support.

[MrScruff]

^These organizations deserve state support.
So the state should ban one private organisation because they don't agree with their views, but actively support another when they do? How about they stop wasting my taxes on this shat.

[Universal_Soldier]

Unbelievable!!
This is why I love America. It won't even get to this point....We can deal with a little bit of aryan brotherhood, Black Panther etc.....but f**k no to Islamists.... not gonna happen. Muslim group are the quietest groups here and cos they kept under a tight leash.

[pg_ord]

So the state should ban one private organisation because they don't agree with their views, but actively support another when they do? How about they stop wasting my taxes on this shat.
Well any organization promoting secular values defined in the constitution deserve support. Thats my opinion. If Brits don't think so thats fine with me too. ;)

[Red Command NZ]

There's nothing like a wish coming true. Oh the irony.

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3750/islamdemocracy.jpg

Christmas prezzy?

oh that piccy is soooooo saved, epic pic is epic

[coltfan111]

If you in the UK check out yesterday evening's Newsnight. Choudary was on along with a member from a thinktank that opposes Islam4UK. It was like the Michael Howard interview where he refused to answer any questions, instead he went on with his usual rhetoric, even denying that he knew the other chap despite being his former solicitor.
Banning them brings them more attention and keeps them in the media spotlight, I think this is another case of the Government jumping straight into the middle of something without thinking it through. Similar to the BNP situation where every politician has to remind us that their political party oppose the BNP and what they stand for as though I don't already know that. The vast majority of the public aren't stupid, they know that the BNP aren't the nicest bunch, and its safe to assume that the politicians agree.
I am in no way advocating ignoring these sort of groups, but addressing every issue that they raise brings them and their ideas into the public eye all to often, give them enough rope to hang themselves, and when they do, then you ban them, then you bring about charges. In the mean time the UK has bigger fish to fry than a bunch of so called fanatics.

IMO
The media attention will last a week ,people will have forgotten about them soon. So good riddance.

[SpankyMcCollins]

Unbelievable!!
This is why I love America. It won't even get to this point....We can deal with a little bit of aryan brotherhood, Black Panther etc.....but f**k no to Islamists.... not gonna happen. Muslim group are the quietest groups here and cos they kept under a tight leash.

I wonder why :roll:

Seriously though this is a step forward politicans here especially, are very careful with how they step around different races/religions, particularly muslims. The most idiotic things are classed as racist, kids can't even sing ''Bah bah black sheep'' anymore, thanks to groups such as these moaning, and pissy bureaucrats.

I don't know if the bill was proposed before Choud-dawg planned to march trough Wootton Basett or immediately after, either way Islam4Uk shot it self in its feet.
One facebook group had shy of just under 1 million members in outrage to the planned march, The Sun (Lol I know) made a official petition. Guess the general public has a limit with these guys finally.