Govt adds four groups to terror list

The federal government has added four groups to its list of known terrorist
organisations after receiving intelligence warning of imminent attacks.
The four groups - Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Kurdistan Workers Party,
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were all previously on the list.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the re-listing was on the back of advice
from security agencies warning that the groups "were either directly or indirectly
engaged in, preparing, planning, assisting or fostering terrorist acts".
Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, an armed element of Hamas' military wing, and
which is believed to have carried out terrorist attacks in support of Hamas, was one
of two Palestinian organisations added to the list.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a violent extremist group committed to the establishment
of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel, is believed to be
responsible for numerous rocket attacks on Israel and several suicide bombings.
The Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as PKK, is a Kurdish nationalist movement
which engages in a range of attacks against Turkish security, civilian and foreign
targets.
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, an extremist Islamic organisation based in Pakistan, has directly
engaged in a number of terrorist acts, including suicide attacks, bombings,
kidnappings, and assassinations in India.
The group was responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai which killed more
than 170 people.
The re-listing of the groups makes it an offence to be a member of, associate with,
train with, provide training for, receive funds from, make funds available to,
direct or recruit for these organisations.