AN EXTREMIST Islamic group led by a Leytonstone Muslim will be banned under counter-terrorism laws.
Islam4UK, whose leader cleric Anjem Choudary lives in Colchester Road, will be outlawed, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced today.
The group was previously banned while operating under the names “Al-Ghurabaa” and “The Saved Sect”, but continued to operate under alternative names, including Islam4UK.
Now members of any group operating under the names Islam4UK, Al Muhajiroun, Call to Submission, Islamic Path and London School of Sharia, could be prosecuted under counter-terrorism laws.
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, any organisation can be banned if it "commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for, promotes or encourages terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism", or those which glorify terrorism.
Home secretary Alan 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.”
The group, which has held demonstrations in Walthamstow, calls for the introduction of Sharia law in the UK, banning homosexuality.
It had planned a protest at the Wiltshire town to honour Muslims killed in the Afghanistan conflict, but cancelled on Sunday.
Cllr Afzal Akram, a Muslim and council cabinet member for community safety, had described Islam4UK’s planned demo as “deplorable” and “insensitive”.
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