The European Union has added 18 people and groups to its terrorist list, including the Kurdish rebel group PKK, Peru's Shining Path, and the Iranian People's Mujahidin Organization. The revised list was made public Friday.
The EU list was first drawn up last December, but it has been widened to bring it more into line with the U.S. terrorist list, which was updated after the September attacks in the United States.
Under European Union rules, the 15 EU governments must freeze assets of individuals and groups on the list, which now includes more than 50 parties. In case of prosecutions, EU nations also must help one another investigate the activities of those accused of terrorism.
The EU terror list is to be reviewed every six months to take into account possible new groups.
Of the 11 groups added to the EU list, two are based in Turkey. The PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, DHKP/C. The latter group has been leading a hunger strike in Turkey to protest prison conditions.
The PKK, which has waged a 15-year war against Turkey, changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, or Kadek, in April.
Kadek said it was ending its armed struggle to work peacefully for greater rights for Kurds in southeastern Turkey, but the group did not disband its armed wing. Despite this move, EU governments have placed the PKK on the list, signaling they do not recognize Kadek. The Turkish government has said the name change is meaningless.
Other additions to the EU list included the Iranian People's Mujahidin Organization, the Spanish Basque separatist group Aska Tasuna, and the Peruvian leftist group Shining Path. Seven individuals were also added to the EU list, all linked to the Spanish separatist group ETA.
The newcomers to the list join groups such as Afghanistan's Taleban, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, and other radical Islamic organizations.
The EU list issued in December also included Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas Izzedine al-Qassam, which the European Union called the terrorist wing of Hamas.
Various groups from Northern Ireland, Spain's Basque country, and Greece were also on the list.
Not included on the updated list are the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Colombian group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).