Britain moves to ban Pakistani Taliban

Britain moved Tuesday to ban the Pakistani Taliban, making membership a criminal offence and rendering illegal any attempts to raise money for the group in this country.

"I have laid an order which will proscribe Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. Proscription is a tough but necessary power to tackle terrorism and is not a course of action we take lightly," Home Secretary Theresa May said.

"Proscription means that membership of Tehrik-e Taliban will become a criminal offence, and the organisation will not be able to lawfully operate in the UK, including by raising funds."

The proposed order adds the group to a list of proscribed organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000, and will be debated in parliament later this week, a Home Office spokeswoman said.

She declined to give further details, including why the order was being introduced now.