British police arrest Islamist cleric Anjem Choudary over terror charges

The British police arrested Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary from East London and another man who had landed at the Heathrow Airport from Canada. The two arrests were made over terrorism charges.

The police is believed to be conducting more searches in relation to these arrests.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Counter-terrorism detectives have arrested two men as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism offences. The officers arrested a 56-year-old man from east London in the area at approximately 05.40 am. They arrested a 28-year-old Canadian national at Heathrow airport at approximately 12.35 pm after he arrived on a flight from Canada”.

Choudary was the chief of the Al Muhajiroun (ALM) network and had been arrested earlier in 2016 for support to the Islamic State (ISIS). He had been banned from public speaking and had been instructed about restricted internet and mobile use.

The members of Choudary’s group have been involved in serious cases in the UK including the stabbing of two people on London Bridge in 2019. Influenced by Choudary’s videos, ISIS supporter Ali Harbi Ali murdered British MP David Amess in 2021.

Many other members of the ALM were involved in other murders in central London. ALM had been banned in the UK after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US and the 7/7 London suicide bombings in 2005.

The UK is battling a rise in extremism due to increasing influence of radical Pakistani preachers among British masses. Last year the country witnessed continued mob violence in Birmingham and Leicester where Muslim youth attacked Hindus and damaged temples.

Investigators are looking at several cases of grooming gangs spanning numerous cities which involve British Pakistani men who have been accused of sexually exploiting white underage girls.

The island nation has also been dealing with a couple of cases in which Islamists threatened school children with attacks and in a separate case a teacher had to go underground after he received death threats from the local community.

The UK government’s review of its radicalisation policy, ‘Prevent’ pointed out that British Muslims have been getting radicalised due to the toxic influence of Pakistani clerics who have succeeded in exporting blasphemy ideas to the UK, even though British laws do not provide for punishment under blasphemy.

The arrest of Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary comes at a time when the UK debates increased illegal migration through boat landings and how to integrate thousands of Afghan immigrants.