Islamist 'march' group to be banned

Islam4UK provoked outrage when it planned to march through Wootton Bassett
12 April 2012

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has moved to ban the Islamist group behind a planned march through Wootton Bassett.

From later this week membership of Anjem Choudary's Islam4UK, and its parent organisation Al Muhajiroun, will be a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Mr Johnson said the ban is needed to tackle terrorism, and he warned the group had tried to escape proscription simply by changing its name.

It is already banned under the names Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect, and that order will be extended in Parliament on Thursday.

Mr Johnson said: "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."

Islam4UK is led by Choudary, who founded Al Muhajiroun in the 1980s with radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammad.

His announcement of a planned march through Wootton Bassett provoked outrage last week before the threat was withdrawn on Sunday. The Wiltshire town stops to mark the return of every fallen serviceman repatriated to nearby RAF Lyneham, and it has come to symbolise the country's respect for its war dead.

At a London press conference on Tuesday, Choudary warned the ban would force Muslim youth attracted to his group "underground" and could lead to violence.

"At the present time we can gather the youth together. This is not a threat; this is a warning of what possibly could transpire if you do not allow Muslims to practise their own faith.

"I wonder how many 7/7s need to take place before the Government realise that people like Omar Bakri Muhammad, organisations like Al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK, can control the youth, we can ensure that they manifest their energies through peaceful means?"

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