Anjhem Choudary among nine arrested on suspicion of terrorist support

The radical preacher Anjhem Choudary has been arrested along with nine other men on suspicion of supporting a banned terrorist group and encouraging terrorism.

The arrest came shortly after Choudary posted tweets condemning David Cameron’s support for air strikes in Syria. Choudary tweeted: “FACT: The war being waged by the US/UK & co is a war against Islam and Muslims. The objective is to take Muslims away from the Shari’ah(ISLAM)”.

Choudary is co-founder of the banned Al-Muhajiroun group which campaigns for the establishment Shari’ah law in the UK. The Henry Jackson Society think-tank claims that a fifth of all terrorist attacks in the UK have been connected to the organisation.

A researcher from the think-tank said: “The arrests are a welcome sign that the Government is taking the threat of extremist ideology seriously and beginning to effectively use the tools already available in the fight against terrorism in the UK.