LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government says it will ban an Islamist group whose proposed protest march through a town known for honoring British soldiers drew national outrage.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said Tuesday he would invoke counterterrorism laws to outlaw Islam4UK, a group led by hardline leader Anjem Choudary.
Choudary outraged Britons earlier this year by suggesting his group would march through Wootton Bassett, known because its residents fill the town’s main street when soldiers’ bodies are driven through from a nearby air base.
The group had said the march would highlight Afghan civilian deaths at the hands of NATO-led forces.
But lawmakers called the move a distasteful publicity stunt and many called for Choudary’s group to be banned.