Colin Powell outlaws Irish terror groups

Colin Powell has stepped up pressure on breakaway republican and loyalist terror groups.

The US Secretary of State has named them on a list of groups whose supporters are banned from the US.

The groups named were the Continuity IRA, the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders.

It means their supporters will not be allowed into the US, and if they are found in the country they will be deported.

The groups were named on a list that includes a series of fronts for al-Qaida and Hamas and which Mr Powell produced under new anti-terrorist powers.

A spokesman for the US State Department said: "By designating these groups, the secretary has strengthened the United States' ability to exclude supporters of terrorism from the country or to deport them if they are found within our borders.

"The campaign against terrorism will be a long one, using all the tools of statecraft.

"We are taking a methodical approach to all aspects of the campaign to eliminate terrorism as a threat to our way of life."

The three groups are among splinter groups from Northern Ireland already banned from fund-raising in the US.

Their American supporters face jail if they are found trying to get cash for them, while any assets they have in America could have been frozen if they are found by State Department investigators.