Anjem Choudary and his extremist groups are believed to have inspired at least 100 people from Britain into terrorism, including organisations committed to campaigns of murder against the west, the Guardian has learned.
Choudary avoided serious criminal charges for years, but his own conviction for terrorism, agreed unanimously by an Old Bailey jury in July, can now be reported after legal restrictions were lifted.
Documents from intelligence sources say his groups were at the heart of the Islamist movement in Britain, which has been left facing a “severe” threat of jihadi attack.
Choudary and an acolyte, Mohammed Rahman, were convicted after they urged support for Islamic State and pledged allegiance to the group.
The conviction represents only a fraction of the jihadi mayhem to which the lawyer is linked.
People connected to Choudary and his groups who turned to terrorism include Michael Adebolajo, one of the men who murdered the soldier Lee Rigby on a London street in 2013. He is also linked to foiled plots to kill in the UK over a decade ago, youngsters who have fled to join Isis in Syria, leaving their families distraught, and the alleged inspiration of violence across Europe.
Choudary and his co-defendant, Mohammed Rahman, 33, told their supporters to obeyAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Isis leader, who is also known as a caliph, and travel to Syria to support Isis or “the caliphate”.
On the ninth anniversary of the London terror attacks – 7 July 2014 – Choudary and Rahman posted an oath of allegiance online under their kunyas or Islamic names, Abu Luqman, used by Choudary, and Abu Baraa, used by Rahman, on an extremist website.
Choudary was a key figure for a succession of extremist Islamist groups. He was dismissed as a clown by some, while helping inspire youngsters to turn to terrorism in Britain and Europe, and enjoyed frequent media appearances.
He was a key figure in al-Muhajiroun before it was banned under terrorism legislation and relaunched itself as al-Ghurabaa, which again was banned under terrorism laws. Successor groups in turn were banned under terrorism legislation, such as Islam4Uk and Muslims Against Crusades.
Commander Dean Haydon, the head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, said his team had trawled through 20 years of Choudary’s statements to build the case against him. Haydon denied the extremist had been “allowed to run” so intelligence could be gained on the aspirant jihadis he attracted.
Haydon said of Choudary and Rahman: “These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no one within the counter-terrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations.
Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offences who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men.”
A conservative estimate is that no less than 100 people from Britain linked to Choudary or his groups have fought or supported violent jihad, according to counter-terrorism sources. The figures were supported by a leftwing anti-extremism group that has studied the influence of al-Muhajiroun and its successor groups.
That number increases on taking into account those in Europe who joined organisations such as Isis after being involved with extremist groups Choudary helped establish or inspire, such as in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Choudary’s influence in Europe was such that the Dutch intelligence agency AIVDassessed him to be a key influence in the spread of the jihadi movement in the Netherlands. A spokesperson for AIVD said it stood by its assessment of Choudary’s central role in the UK first, and then Europe, set out in a 2014 document: “Since the 1980s the UK has harboured an active Islamist movement propagating an anti-democratic, intolerant and sometimes explicitly violent ideology.
“At its heart is the now banned group Islam4UK, previously known as al-Muhajiroun, al-Ghurabaa and Muslims Against Crusades. Its most familiar faces areOmar Bakri (currently resident in Lebanon) and Anjem Choudary, who acts as its spokesman. Modelling itself closely on this British movement, Sharia4Belgium was active in Belgium for several years …”
The spokesperson for Dutch intelligence added that the fact Choudary operated publicly and could “step out of the shadows and into light” was an inspiration for others to do the same.
Choudary avoided serious criminal charges for years, but his own conviction for terrorism, agreed unanimously by an Old Bailey jury in July, can now be reported after legal restrictions were lifted.
Documents from intelligence sources say his groups were at the heart of the Islamist movement in Britain, which has been left facing a “severe” threat of jihadi attack.
Choudary and an acolyte, Mohammed Rahman, were convicted after they urged support for Islamic State and pledged allegiance to the group.
The conviction represents only a fraction of the jihadi mayhem to which the lawyer is linked.
People connected to Choudary and his groups who turned to terrorism include Michael Adebolajo, one of the men who murdered the soldier Lee Rigby on a London street in 2013. He is also linked to foiled plots to kill in the UK over a decade ago, youngsters who have fled to join Isis in Syria, leaving their families distraught, and the alleged inspiration of violence across Europe.
Choudary and his co-defendant, Mohammed Rahman, 33, told their supporters to obeyAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Isis leader, who is also known as a caliph, and travel to Syria to support Isis or “the caliphate”.
On the ninth anniversary of the London terror attacks – 7 July 2014 – Choudary and Rahman posted an oath of allegiance online under their kunyas or Islamic names, Abu Luqman, used by Choudary, and Abu Baraa, used by Rahman, on an extremist website.
Choudary was a key figure for a succession of extremist Islamist groups. He was dismissed as a clown by some, while helping inspire youngsters to turn to terrorism in Britain and Europe, and enjoyed frequent media appearances.
He was a key figure in al-Muhajiroun before it was banned under terrorism legislation and relaunched itself as al-Ghurabaa, which again was banned under terrorism laws. Successor groups in turn were banned under terrorism legislation, such as Islam4Uk and Muslims Against Crusades.
Commander Dean Haydon, the head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, said his team had trawled through 20 years of Choudary’s statements to build the case against him. Haydon denied the extremist had been “allowed to run” so intelligence could be gained on the aspirant jihadis he attracted.
Haydon said of Choudary and Rahman: “These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no one within the counter-terrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations.
Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offences who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men.”
A conservative estimate is that no less than 100 people from Britain linked to Choudary or his groups have fought or supported violent jihad, according to counter-terrorism sources. The figures were supported by a leftwing anti-extremism group that has studied the influence of al-Muhajiroun and its successor groups.
That number increases on taking into account those in Europe who joined organisations such as Isis after being involved with extremist groups Choudary helped establish or inspire, such as in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Choudary’s influence in Europe was such that the Dutch intelligence agency AIVDassessed him to be a key influence in the spread of the jihadi movement in the Netherlands. A spokesperson for AIVD said it stood by its assessment of Choudary’s central role in the UK first, and then Europe, set out in a 2014 document: “Since the 1980s the UK has harboured an active Islamist movement propagating an anti-democratic, intolerant and sometimes explicitly violent ideology.
“At its heart is the now banned group Islam4UK, previously known as al-Muhajiroun, al-Ghurabaa and Muslims Against Crusades. Its most familiar faces areOmar Bakri (currently resident in Lebanon) and Anjem Choudary, who acts as its spokesman. Modelling itself closely on this British movement, Sharia4Belgium was active in Belgium for several years …”
The spokesperson for Dutch intelligence added that the fact Choudary operated publicly and could “step out of the shadows and into light” was an inspiration for others to do the same.
