Britain bans Islamist group after march row

LONDON (Agencies)Britain will outlaw an Islamist group that provoked anger with a plan to march through a town where British troops killed in Afghanistan are honored, the interior minister announced on Tuesday.

Islam4UK will be banned from Thursday, making it a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail to be a member of the group, which also uses other names, said Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

"I have today laid an order which will proscribe Al Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, and a number of the other names the organization goes by. It is already proscribed under two other names -- Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect," he said.

"Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course we take lightly. We are clear that an organization should not be able to circumvent proscription by simply changing its name," he added.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown 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.

After a media outcry and criticism from politicians, the group dropped plans for a march, saying it had successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan.