Only a year after being released from prison for inviting support for the bloodthirsty Islamic State group, or ISIS, hate preacher Anjem Choudary is again holding meetings, inspiring his network of extremists and poses a renewed terror threat, an investigation by experts has warned.
The firebrand cleric’s release has reinvigorated his outlawed jihadist group al-Muhajiroun, the study found.
The outspoken, 52-year-old father of five is said to be back in his family home in east London where he previously masterminded the Islamist extremist network which helped recruit terrorists, including London Bridge attack ringleader Khuram Butt, and Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who murdered soldier Lee Rigby.
Experts from the UK’s Counter Extremism Project (CEP) say the decision to give Choudary, parole should be reviewed in light of the findings, which they say show he is a threat to national security.
A study by the non-governmental monitoring organization says his extremist network is understood to have restarted meetings. ‘Choudary remains a dangerous and influential figure,’ it says.
It also shines new light on Choudary’s influence on outrages around the globe, profiling a network of 110 extremist individuals and 33 organizations associated with him. Of the 110 individuals, 18 successfully carried out terror attacks, 50 others attempted atrocities and 19 are – or attempted to become – Islamist fighters. Thirty-six are Islamist propagandists or recruiters.
Buoyed by Choudary’s release, his supporters have now reportedly begun meeting again in London and Luton, where he regularly lectured before his arrest, it says.
The Daily Mail revealed at the time how he had become ‘hardened’ in jail and more determined than ever to spread his toxic Islamist propaganda. His militant views became ‘far more extreme and aggressive’ while locked up and he now regards himself as a ‘martyr’, according to those who met him in jail.
