The European Union introduced a package of anti-terrorism measures today, branding six Irish groups as terrorists as well as freezing the assets of Palestinian radicals.
For the first time EU governments drew up a list of domestic organisations accused by all 15 members of terrorism.
They include the Continuity IRA and Real IRA; four Northern Irish Protestant groups - the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the Orange Volunteers, the Red Hand Defenders and the Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Also on the list are the Basque separatist group Eta, and the Greek far-left group November 17th, responsible for the murder of British military attache Brigadier Stephen Saunders in Athens in June 2000.
The EU also froze the assets of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas Izzedine al-Qassam, which the Union described as the "terrorist wing of Hamas."
Individuals targeted included Imad Mughniyeh who the EU named as a "senior intelligence officer" of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, along with two other Lebanese citizens, four Saudis and a Kuwaiti.
The package also included a common definition of terrorist crimes accepted by all 15 EU nations: agreement to deny safe haven to terrorists, their supporters or financial backers; enhanced cooperation and information exchange among law enforcement agencies; tighter monitoring of asylum seekers to ensure terrorists are not given refugee status.
Officials said national governments would act individually against those domestic groups. They also said naming the groups as terrorists would further isolate them and make it easier for police around the EU to cooperate.
The groups named by the EU as "involved in terrorist acts" on the list published today include Eta and five groups linked to it.
Also on the list were other Greek organisations: Revolutionary Cells and Revolutionary Popular Struggle; a Spanish left wing group Grapo; and the Palestinian groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas Izzedine al-Qassam.
The external security organisation of the Lebanese Hezbollah which was included on a list distributed by diplomats yesterday was not on the list published in the EU's official journal today, although individuals accused of Hezbollah links were.
EU officials also said a separate classified list was agreed of organisations and individuals suspected of terrorist links and subject to investigation by European police forces.
The EU has already frozen the assets of dozens of groups and individuals linked to Afghanistan's Taliban, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, and other Islamic radical organisations.
Other EU measures agreed since September 11th include the introduction of an EU-wide arrest warrant for serious crimes to come into force in 2004, and minimum prison sentences for terrorist crimes.
AP