Britain moves order to ban ‘Pakistani Taliban’ in UK
By ANIWednesday, January 19, 2011
LONDON - Britain has moved an order to ban the Pakistani Taliban as a terrorist group, making it illegal to raise funds in the United Kingdom.
“I have laid an order which will proscribe Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan,” the Daily Mail quoted Home Secretary Theresa May, as saying.
“Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course of action we take lightly,” she added.
May said the membership of the TTP would become a criminal offence, and that the organisation would not be able to raise funds or lawfully operate in the UK.
“Proscription means that membership of Tehrik-e Taliban will become a criminal offence, and the organisation will not be able to lawfully operate in the UK, including by raising funds,” she maintained.
The Home Secretary’s order will now be debated in both the House of Commons and Lords.
During the worst floods in Pakistan’s history last year, the TTP, an umbrella group of militants based in nearby North and South Waziristan, hinted that it may launch attacks against foreign flood relief workers in the country, saying that their presence was ‘unacceptable’.
Pakistan Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed that the US and other countries were not really focused on providing aid to flood victims, but had other ‘intentions’, which he did not specify. (ANI)
