Anjem Choudary, som sist uke ledet hatefulle protester i Luton mot hjemvendte britiske soldater, oppfordrer britiske muslimer til å samle inn penger til mujahedin som kjemper mot Vesten. Det kan tolkes som støtte til Taliban som dreper britiske soldater.
A recording has emerged of Anjem Choudary, a self-styled sharia judge and former leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun, telling his followers to stop spending their money on their families and divert it to Muslim soldiers waging jihad, or holy war.
There were demands for Choudary to be investigated by police. He has previously called for British women to be forced to wear burqas and for adulterers to be killed. Several radical preachers have previously been jailed for urging British Muslims to give money to Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in Iraq.
The emergence of the tape coincided with the death yesterday of a British soldier in Afghanistan, the 150th to die there since 2001. The soldier of the 2nd battalion, Royal Welsh regiment, was on foot patrol.
Last week Choudary’s followers shouted abuse at soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment as they paraded through Luton, calling them “butchers and killers”. Choudary later called the troops “cowards who cannot fight”.
Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons subcommittee on counterterrorism, said: “It is crucial that Choudary is investigated by the police and if the evidence stacks up he must be charged.” Geoffrey Bindman, a leading lawyer, said: “There’s an element of ambiguity in the term ‘mujaheddin’ but in the context it’s possible he would be held to be seeking to raise money for terrorist purposes.”
Hate cleric leads jihad cash appeal
Anjem Choudary, who led protests against returning British troops, has urged his followers to send money to ‘mujaheddin’
