UK moves to proscribe Hezbollah and affiliates

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Britain is set to ban a number of groups as terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Ansaroul Islam, and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a government statement said Monday.

A draft order, laid in parliament today, will proscribe the Lebanese Hezbollah in its entirety alongside Ansaroul Islam and JNIM, which operates in Africa’s Sahel region, according to the statement.

The organizations will be banned after approval from parliament and “from next Friday, being a member, or inviting support for” the said groups will be a criminal offense, with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that in to protect the British people, “we identify and ban any terrorist organisation which threatens our safety and security, whatever their motivations or ideology, which is why I am taking action against several organizations today.”

Using a different spelling for Hezbollah, he warned: “Hizballah is continuing in its attempts to destabilase the fragile situation in the Middle East – and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party.”

“Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety,” Javid added.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the U.K. staunchly supports “a stable and prosperous Lebanon” but it “cannot however be complacent when it comes to terrorism.”

“It is clear the distinction between Hizballah’s military and political wings does not exist, and by proscribing Hizballah in all its forms, the government is sending a clear signal that its destabilising activities in the region are totally unacceptable and detrimental to the UK’s national security,” Hunt said.

“This does not change our ongoing commitment to Lebanon, with whom we have a broad and strong relationship,” he added.

Other newly banned groups include Jaysh Khalid Bin Walid (JKbW) (JKW), Jaysh Khalid bin al-Walid (KBW), and Khalid ibn-Walid Army (KBWA), all aliases of Daesh.

- DHKP-C

The statement also said some groups going under various names but related to the already banned terrorist organization DHKP-C -- a terror group that has been active in Turkey -- will also be banned as of Tuesday.

It said: “The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKC), the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party (DHKP) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front/Armed Propaganda Units (DHKC/SPB) as aliases of the Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party-Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi) (DHKP-C) which is already proscribed will also be banned.”

The DHKP-C, a Marxist-Leninist far-left terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility for various terror attacks in Turkey, including one in 2013 at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara.