A leading Islamic militant has issued a chilling warning that Britain faces a terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11.
The UK head of Al-Muhajiroun, an extremist group linked to last week’s failed plotters, said today he expected a future atrocity would be successful.
Anjem Choudary told the Evening Standard: “I would not be surprised at all if there is a plot that succeeds. I would not be surprised that another 7/7 or 9/11 type operation was being planned, the causes are still there.”
Mr Choudary, who ran Al-Muhajiroun until it was disbanded, is a radical accused of influencing young Muslims. Al-Muhajiroun’s spiritual head was Omar Bakri Mohammed, currently living in exile in Beirut.
Al-Muhajiroun was active on university campuses and had a strong presence in Walthamstow, where several arrests were made last week.
Mr Choudary, who denied he knew any of those involved in the alleged plot, said British and US foreign policy was encouraging young Muslims to plot against the UK. Al-Muhajiroun ran a market stall in Walthamstow recruiting young Muslims.
One of its leading lieutenants, Abdul Muhid, was arrested and charged for preaching hatred at the Walthamstow stall – he called for the slaughter of British troops in Iraq and said homosexuals should be thrown from cliff tops – but the case was dropped.
The group disbanded last year and new organisations – al-Ghurabaa and the Saviour Sect – sprung up to replace it. The various groups are linked to Bakri. Despite campaigns to close down Al- Muhajiroun and its offshoots, the organisations were only banned last month.