By NBC News' Emily Wither

LONDON – The small, traditional Wiltshire town in southern England of Wootton Bassett is at the center of a storm over the war in Afghanistan.

The town has made a tradition of honoring British soldiers killed in Afghanistan by observing a silent tribute when the dead are repatriated and pass through town. An Islamic group, Islam4UK, had planned to disrupt the town's tribute by carrying 500 empty coffins through Wootton Bassett, saying they would represent Muslim victims of the Afghanistan conflict.

After widespread condemnation from the media and politicians, the Islamic group cancelled their protest, saying they had "successfully highlighted the plight of Muslims in Afghanistan."

Toby Melville / Reuters

Mourners react as the cortege for British soldier Robert Hayes is driven through Wootton Bassett in southwestern England on Monday.

Nevertheless, the British foreign minister announced that the group will be outlawed in the U.K. – putting it in the same league as terror organizations like al-Qaida and the Tamil Tigers.

British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the ban on the group would take effect Thursday. It will make it a criminal offense to be a member of Islam4UK or al-Muhajiron, another name the group goes by, and will make membership punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000, a group can be banned if it "commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for, promotes or encourages terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism." Islam4UK denies that they are involved in violence and say that they are strictly an "ideological and political organization."

VIDEO: British government bans Islamic group

Center of the storm
With its weekly farmer's market and beautiful surrounding countryside seems like an unlikely national symbol for Britain's involvement in the war in Afghanistan.   
 
But with its proximity to the Royal Air Force base at Lyneham, where the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are repatriated, the town has become famous for its informal public mourning. Several years ago residents began quietly lining the streets as a show of respect to its war dead and it wasn't long before repatriation ceremonies became a tradition there.
 
On Monday, the town gathered for its 107th ceremony as the first solider killed in Afghanistan in 2010 arrived back on British soil. The pictures of grieving families paying tribute to hearses draped in Union Jack flags as they passed through town have been beamed into living rooms across the country for years. The ceremony serves as a reminder that the country is at war and military families say they take strength from the display of support.

Residents of Wootton Bassett have long maintained their actions are not political, but only served as a mark of respect for British servicemen and women and should not have led to plans for a large scale counter-protest.

Islam4UK planned to take advantage of the national attention to get their anti-war message out. They said they found the ceremonies "totally unacceptable" and announced they wanted a march of their own in the town to honor what they called "the real war dead of this brutal crusade."

"This is a reality that the British public perhaps do not want to swallow, and it is a bitter pill, but I want them to taste it the way that we taste it," said Anjem Choudary, the British leader of Islam4UK, a few days before the planned protest was cancelled.

Goal achieved
If Choudary was looking to create publicity around his cause, he got it. The proposed protest march sparked fierce criticism with over 700,000 people signing an online petition against the march.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown also stepped in and branded the plans "disgusting and offensive."

As far as Choudary was concerned, the outcry achieved the goal of garnering attention to his cause. "Do you think that if I propose a procession outside 10 Downing Street, NBC News would be speaking to me? I doubt it very much," he said.  
 
Although Choudary pointed out that the march was not about race, but about British foreign policy, it did cause great dismay among some of Britain's Muslim community.
 
"As a Muslim in this country it would be the worst thing that could happen to my position in the society. These people are deliberately trying to destroy my ability to integrate, which has taken decades to achieve," said Imran Ahmed, an author and a trustee of British Muslims for Secular Democracy.
 
Still despite the ban, the group is unlikely to disappear altogether. The founder of al-Muhajiron, Omar Bakri Muhammed told the BBC from Lebanon that the ban would only "

increase the popularity of al-Muhajiroun" and "force them underground."