Anjem Choudary, 47, a radical British Muslim cleric, was swept up in a counter-terrorist raid this week, along with 8 other men, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.
The man who The Mail describes as “Britain’s most notorious Islamist hate preacher” got into an 11-minute shouting match late last month with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The day before Choudary,s arrest, British Prime Minister David Cameron blasted what he called “Muslim preachers of hate,” as being the catalyst to Islamic extremism in general, and the rise of ISIS specifically, as reported here.
His arrest occurred on Thursday morning, shortly after he posted a series of nine tweets, all similar and including this one:
FACT: The Islamic State could not wish for a better rallying call for Muslims worldwide to join them than for the USA to start bombing again
— Anjem Choudary (@anjemchoudary) September 25, 2014
According to The Mail:
The show of force targeted the leadership of radical organisation Al-Muhajiroun, which he [Choudary] founded almost 20 years ago, and was later banned.
The arrests came on the eve of the first British air strikes on Islamic extremists waging war in Iraq and Syria.
Many of those held across London yesterday have been vocal cheerleaders of the bloodshed in the Middle East.
They included Choudary’s close friend, Trevor Brooks, who recently joined a wave of gloating by Islamists on social networks over the murders of hostages at the hands of the British terrorist known as Jihadi John.
Experts expressed amazement that it had taken so long for police to take action against the outspoken firebrand preacher.
Choudary’s debate with Hannity last month degenerated into a shouting match when the cleric refused to acknowledge the “convert to Islam or die” practice used by the terrorist group ISIS. Watch the exchange below.
http://youtu.be/p5a60F8AgpI
(h/t: Young Conservatives)
