Anjem Choudary’s terror group ‘spread its tentacles round the world’

Al-Muhajiuroun, the radical Islamist terror group spearheaded by hate preacher Anjem Choudary, “spread its tentacles round”, police have said as they lifted the lid on the complex investigation which led to his conviction today.

The joint Met Police and MI5 probe into the 57-year-old was assisted by the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

After a six-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Choudary, of east London, was today convicted of directing a terrorist organisation, membership of a proscribed organisation and encouraging support for a terrorist organisation.

Khaleed Hussein, 29, of Edmonton, Canada was also found guilty of membership of a proscribed organisation.

Commander Dominic Murphy Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said:

“These convictions come as a result of some truly remarkable work – not only here in the UK by Counter Terrorism police and our colleagues in MI5, but also from the incredibly brave work of undercover officers both in the US and Canada.

“The information and evidence we were able to gather, all while working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, meant we were able to build a very strong case to prove Choudary was directing the ALM terrorist group and encouraging others to join them.

“Choudary, in particular, is now facing a significant sentence. I have no doubt that these convictions have left communities here in London, but also right across the UK and beyond, much safer.

“ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.”

Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland, Regional Commander for the Northwest Region at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said: “This investigation is truly an example of how information and intelligence sharing and collaboration between countries is vital to stopping the spread of online extremism and radicalisation.

“It serves as a reminder that extremism can take hold anywhere and that we must all remain vigilant.”

New York City Police Department (NYPD) Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Ulam Weiner said: “Anjem Choudary spent decades radicalising individuals around the world and has now been brought to justice thanks to relentless collaboration across multiple agencies and countries.

“In today’s borderless world, public safety demands the level of teamwork that defined this historic investigation. The NYPD is deeply grateful to our partners at Counter Terrorism Policing, MI5, and RCMP for their tireless efforts that brought this case to its successful conclusion.”

In July 2021, licence conditions connected to Choudary’s previous terrorism conviction in 2016 expired, with police officers becoming increasingly concerned that he would re-engage with terrorist activity.

The investigation culminated in his arrest nearly two years later. It was thanks to information provided to the CTC by colleagues from the NYPD and then also the RCMP that detectives in London were able to piece together evidence that Choudary was running and directing what was, in effect, the banned terror group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) via online lectures with followers based in New York.

CTC detectives were alerted to the fact Choudary was becoming involved in a group called the “Islamic Thinkers Society” when the NYPD contacted them in Autumn 2021 in relation to an undercover investigation they were carrying out into ITS.

Detectives in the UK worked closely with colleagues from the NYPD to build a picture of the group and identify how Choudary was becoming increasingly involved.

In May 2022, CTC detectives were further contacted by colleagues in the RCMP, who were also investigating a Canadian called Khaled Hussein. One undercover officer from the RCMP was in touch with Hussein and had identified a further connection between Hussein and Choudary in London.

Evidence from Canada showed how Hussein was effectively acting as a personal assistant to Choudary. Hussein helped him host online lectures with other extremists and edited extremist online blogs and publications for Choudary.

Over the next few months, information, intelligence and evidence was gathered together by the investigation team, which built a picture that the ITS group in New York was a continuation and extension of the proscribed terrorist organisation ALM.

Crucial evidence was identified from both NYPD and RCMP undercover officers, which confirmed the explicit link between ALM and ITS. In one voice note sent to the Canadian officer, Hussein described ITS as “being Al-Muhajiroun”. Evidence from the NYPD officers also showed how Choudary was hosting and running lectures for the ITS group via encrypted platforms.

In the meantime, police and MI5 continued to gather other intelligence and evidence here in the UK and officers also travelled to the US and Canada to ensure key evidence could be secured for use in the UK.

In total, officers trawled through 100s of hours of audio and video content and assessed over 16,000 documents, working through more than a decade of material to identify and prove the links between ALM, ITS and Choudary.

Among the audio content were covert recordings from Choudary’s address, where he was heard having conversations with his wife about being involved in ALM activity, and also captured a conversation between Choudary and Omar Bakri Muhammad – the former leader of ALM.

Bakri and Choudary discussed the activities of various people who had former links to ALM and crucially, Choudary also confirmed during one conversation that he had taken the role of leading ALM as its “caretaker emir” in 2014 while Bakri had been imprisoned for terrorism offences in Lebanon.

Evidence gathered by the investigation team also showed how, over the past decade, the ALM group had encouraged and assisted various people in joining and fighting for Daesh and that Choudary was now seeking to influence and radicalise a new generation of extremists and encourage them to go and support terrorist causes around the world.

In July 2023, UK detectives became aware via the undercover RCMP officer that Hussein planned to visit Choudary in London, and officers moved to arrest the pair. Hussein was arrested on 17 July, 2023 as he arrived on a flight into London from Canada with Choudary arrested earlier that morning.

After carrying out more enquiries while they were in police custody, the pair were charged on 23 July, 2023. They were convicted as above and are both due to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 30 July.