While Al Qaida and associated networks constitute the main international terrorist threat, other terrorist groups remain active to varying degrees in many areas of the world. They are generally preoccupied with pursuing their local or nationalist agendas. They are primarily motivated by regional conflicts such as the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, or seek to replace secular governments such as those of Algeria or Pakistan with Taleban-style theocracies.

Most such groups do not target British interests specifically. They may regard attacks on Westerners as a way of gaining international media coverage and destabilising their governments. There have been some cases of tourists being targeted indiscriminately, as happened in Luxor, Egypt in November 1997 when 60 mostly Western tourists were killed by gunmen from the Al-Gama'at al-Islamiya group, which seeks to overthrow the Egyptian government. However, British citizens may sometimes be specifically targeted for political reasons. One such case was the murder in June 2000 of the British Military Attaché to Greece, Brigadier Stephen Saunders. He was assasinated in Athens by November 17, a Greek Marxist terrorist group opposed to NATO.

The level and nature of the threat to UK citizens is constantly monitored. People travelling abroad can obtain the latest advice directly from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office - see The Risk of Terrorism when Travelling Overseas (new window)
and the FCO's Travel Advice by Country (new window).

Although many international terrorist groups tend to focus on specific countries and regions when seeking to carry out attacks, they also maintain links to sympathisers and supporters in other countries, including the UK. They may seek to use the UK as a "safe haven" where they can raise funds for terrorist activities, plan and prepare attacks, find recruits or otherwise facilitate their campaigns.

In response to this threat, Parliament has enacted a number of laws to prohibit and disrupt the activities of foreign terrorist groups in the UK. The Terrorism Act 2000 (new window) made it illegal for a number of specific groups to operate in the UK. The Act defines a terrorist group as being an organisation that

(a) commits or participates in acts of terrorism,

(b) prepares for terrorism,

(c) promotes or encourages terrorism, or

(d) is otherwise concerned in terrorism.

The Act enables the Home Secretary to "proscribe" (i.e. ban) specific terrorist groups. Membership or support of such an organisation is an offence under the Act and can be penalised with up to ten years' imprisonment. The Terrorism Act 2006 (new window) introduced new powers to prohibit the glorification of terrorism ("glorification" being defined as including "any form of praise or celebration" of terrorism) and also enables the Home Secretary to ban groups involved in such glorification.

Proscribed terrorist organisations are listed in Schedule II of the Terrorism Act 2000. The Home Secretary can add or remove specific groups from this list as required. As of September 2006, 46 international terrorist groups are proscribed under the Terrorist Act 2000 and a further two groups are proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2006 for glorifying terrorism. Fourteen Northern Irish terrorist groups are also proscribed under previous legislation. The current list of proscribed organisations (new window) is available on the Home Office website.