British government bans radical Islamist group

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Thursday banned a tiny radical Muslim group that attracted ire by protesting outside the U.S. Embassy on the anniversary of Sept. 11 and burning memorial poppies on Remembrance Day

Home Secretary Theresa May said the group would be outlawed from midnight.

May said she was satisfied the group was "simply another name" for an organization already banned for glorifying terrorism under names including al-Ghurabaa, The Saved Sect, al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK.

The group's spokesman, Anjem Choudary, accused the government of trying "to cover up the truth."

Muslims Against Crusades posted a message on its website saying it had disbanded and was canceling a "Hate for Heroes" anti-soldiers protest scheduled for Friday — Armistice Day, which marks the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918.

The order comes after members of the group barged into a London mosque where Conservative lawmaker Mike Freer was meeting constituents last month, prompting officials to lock him in a room for his own safety.

Before that incident, the group's website referred to the 2010 attack on legislator Stephen Timms, who was stabbed in the stomach by a 21-year-old Muslim woman angered by his support for the Iraq war.

The website said the attack should serve as a "piercing reminder" to politicians that "their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area."