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The home secretary last night moved to ban 15 more international "terror organisations" with alleged links to al-Qaida, including some which are believed to have members living in Britain.

The list mainly covers Pakistani radical Islamist groups but also includes Ansar al-Islam, a radical Sunni Salafi group active in northern Iraq, the largest militant Islamist organisation in Somalia and a Moroccan Islamist group.

The ban was proposed last night by the home secretary, Charles Clarke, and could be law by Thursday, when he will ask both houses of parliament to debate and approve a draft order proscribing these organisations in one day as a matter of urgency. A ban will not only mean that the police and security services can move against those it claims are members of illegal organisations but will also trigger powers to freeze and seize any assets belonging to these groups in Britain.

The ban is being imposed under the Terrorism Act 2000 and does not cover the largest radical extremist organisations in Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Sheik Omar Bhakri's al-Muhajiroun.

But Mr Clarke last night confirmed that his new terrorism bill, to be published this week, will include powers to extend the definition of organisations that can be banned from those which are "concerned with terrorism" to make it possible to proscribe any organisation providing "succour or support" by glorifying terrorism. Tony Blair has made clear he expects this will lead to an eventual ban on extremist organisations which are not involved in terrorism such as Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The new anti-terror bill will also contain new powers to deal with proscribed organisations which try to evade the ban by changing their name. Proscription will cover all "successor" organisations as well.

The decision to proscribe a further 15 international organisations means that they join the initial list of 25 terrorist organisations, including al-Qaida, Hamas, Hizbullah and the Tamil Tigers which are banned in Britain. An additional 14 Irish groups are also proscribed.

The home secretary said events in London and elsewhere had shown that the threat posed by global terrorism had not gone away.

"The United Kingdom is committed to playing a leading role in the international campaign against terrorism and sending the clear message that we are not prepared to tolerate terrorism here or anywhere in the world.

"Proscription is an important power, and not one to be used lightly. The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review and, after careful consideration of all the relevant factors, I am satisfied that these groups should now be added to it."

A Home Office spokesman denied that the decision to announce the ban on the day that parliament returns was connected to Mr Clarke's visit to Washington or Mr Blair's meeting with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, last week.

Seven of the 15 groups named are believed to have some members or supporters in Britain but it is believed the main aim of the ban is to prevent fundraising and to freeze any assets. The list includes:

· The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which seeks to replace the Libyan regime with a hardline Islamist state and has made a failed assassination attempt on President Muammar Gadafy;

· Groupe Islamic Combattant Marocain, which started in Afghanistan but emerged in Morocco in the mid-1990s;

· Ansar al-Islam, formed in 2001 in north-east Iraq, which has been involved in anti-US and Kurdish insurgency attacks;

· Al Ittihad al-Islamia, which aims to establish a radical Sunni Islamic state in Somalia and to regain the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.

Other groups being banned are: the Uzbeck-based Islamic Jihad Union; Ansar al-Sunna in central Iraq; the Afghani Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin; Harakat-ul-Mujahideen/Alami and its splinter group, Jundallah, which operate in Pakistan Kashmir; Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan and its splinter group, Lashkar-e Jhangvi; Khuddam ul-Islam and its splinter group, Jamaat ul-Furquan; Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. All these groups also operate in Pakistani Kashmir. The 15th group is Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh.