7/7 attack, Lee Rigby killers and Paris… jailed hate preacher Anjem Choudary was linked to them all
The evil cleric is facing ten years in jail after inspiring a generation of more than 500 murderous jihadis
TERROR pied piper Anjem Choudary and his disciples are linked to atrocities ranging from 7/7 to the Paris massacre.
Security sources say Britain’s most prolific jihadi recruiter either inspired or has close ties with up to 500 extremists.
His outlawed organisation al-Muhajiroun was a breeding ground for terrorists including the four London bus and Tube bombers and Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale — the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby.
The fanatical preacher also helped fund a Belgian Islamic terror group called Sharia4Belgium, which security services believe played a key role in November’s bomb and gun attacks in Paris.
But despite his role as terror kingpin, Choudary was able to evade justice for two decades.
Using the legal skills he gained from his training as a solicitor, he managed to stay just the right side of the law while inciting a generation of young Muslims to violence.
But he slipped up in the summer of 2014 by taking an oath to ISIS and encouraging others to support the terror group.
The pair were convicted on June 28. But it can only now be reported following the end of a separate linked trial of five alleged associates who also “infected the young minds of children.”
Dad of five Choudary, who railed against British values while living off state benefits, was described in court as the “single biggest gateway to terrorism in recent history.”
One prominent disciple is East Londoner Siddhartha Dhar.
Dhar was arrested with Choudary and Rahman in September 2014 but skipped bail and travelled to Syria with his pregnant wife and their four children to join ISIS.
He has since replaced Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, as chief ISIS executioner.
A film posted online in January showed him shooting a prisoner in the back of the head in Syria.
It was Hindu convert Dhar who encouraged Choudary to publicly offer his support to IS in June 2014.
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Mohammed Reza Haque, 35, another British ISIS renegade who is seen with Dhar in the execution video, is also a Choudary disciple.
In March last year, 20-year-old Brustholm Ziamani was jailed for 19 years over a plot to behead a British soldier.
Ziamani had been radicalised in just a few weeks by al-Muhajiroun.
The following month a 14-year-old boy who had been in touch with Choudary was jailed for life after trying to orchestrate a Remembrance Day attack in Australia — plotting the atrocity online from his bedroom in Lancashire.
Choudary is also responsible for recruiting many of the young UK Muslims who have been brainwashed into travelling to Syria to fight for ISIS Among those make the trip was Abdul Waheed Majeed, the first British suicide bomber in Syria.
He died driving a truck filled with explosives into a prison in January 2014.
Choudary’s most infamous recruits were Lee Rigby murderers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who both attended events organised by al-Muhajiroun.
A friend of Adebolajo, Ibrahim Hassan, 31, was later jailed for peddling a terrorist publication two days after Fusilier Rigby’s murder in Woolwich.
Choudary’s recruits also include Simon Keeler, 44, and Trevor Brooks, 40, jailed for two years in January after admitting a “serious and deliberate” breach of counter-terrorism restrictions by travelling abroad.
He got a landmark Asbo in 2014 banning him from preaching in public.
Royal Mail worker Mohammed Benares, a regular at Choudary demonstrations calling for Sharia law in the UK, was jailed for two years in 2013 for possessing terror guides showing how to make a bomb and handle an AK47.
Convert Richard Dart, 33, the son of Dorset teachers, was jailed for six years for terrorism in 2013.
He had fraternised with Choudary in East London.
Dart travelled to Pakistan for terrorism training.
And he discussed targeting Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town famous for honouring the sacrifices of British troops repatriated after dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Back in 2007, five British extremists were jailed for plotting to bomb the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.
Police have also been investigating links between the ISIS cell behind the Paris attacks and Sharia4Belgium.
Choudary helped launch the Belgian group and arranged an “exchange” programme for his British and Belgian followers.
He and fellow hate preacher Omar Bakri, now under house arrest in Lebanon, were central to the success and funding of Sharia4Belgium.
Choudary and Rahman will be sentenced on 6 September.
Nick Lowles, chief executive of peace charity Hope Not Hate, said: “Justice has been a long time coming.
“Choudary clearly promoted the disgusting and divisive ideals of ISIS — while dozens of his supporters have been connected to terrorist plots, violence or heading overseas to fight in Syria, Iraq and other conflicts.
“Finally Choudary can now pay for his actions.”
Murderous links
7/7
ON the eve of the one-year anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, which killed 52 people, Choudary launched a sick rant refusing to condemn the suicide attack and saying he would not tip off police about another plot.
Hate masters
CHOUDARY called hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza a “victim of the war on terror”.
He publicly protested against Hamza’s extradition to the US where he is serving a life term for supporting terrorism.
Rigby killers
MICHAEL Adebolajo, who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, was a Choudary supporter.
They protested together in Paddington Green, London, and the prea-cher called him a nice man.
Behead plot
BRUSTHOLM Ziamani was a 19-year-old Jehovah’s Witness when he was radicalised by the hate preacher.
Within weeks he had planned a Lee Rigby-style beheading and was arrested on his way to kill a British soldier with a 12-inch knife.
Ginger jihadi
MUSLIM convert Jordan Horner, dubbed the Ginger Jihadi, patrolled East London threatening people for drinking beer.
He was a close associate of Choudary and was pictured with him at a demo.
The fanatic was jailed in 2014 for his part in violence following a march organised by the preacher.
Paris massacre
CHOUDARY helped set up Sharia4Belgium, which funded a group that went to Syria and returned to massacre 130 people in Paris last November.
The suspected mastermind behind the attack Salah Abdeslam is thought to have been a disciple of the preacher.
Jihadi sid
IS executioner Siddhartha Dhar, dubbed Jihadi Sid, issued vile threats to the UK in propaganda videos.
Before he fled to Syria with his wife and kids, Dhar was acting as a spokesman and aide to Choudary’s extremist network Al-Muhajiroun.
