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British Police Arrest 9 in Antiterror Sweep British Police Arrest 9 in Antiterror Sweep
(about 2 hours later)
A day after Prime Minister David Cameron pledged British support for the American-led air campaign in Iraq, counterterrorism police in Britain rounded up nine men suspected of having links to a banned Islamist group and searched 18 buildings across the capital and in the English Midlands. A day after Prime Minister David Cameron pledged British support for the American-led air campaign in Iraq, the counterterrorism police in Britain rounded up nine men suspected of having links to a banned Islamist group and searched 18 buildings across the capital and in the English Midlands.
The men were not identified by name, but news reports citing unidentified sources said they included Anjem Choudhury, an Islamic preacher and organizer who has frequently voiced radical views and was associated with the Al Muhajiroun group before it was outlawed in 2010.The men were not identified by name, but news reports citing unidentified sources said they included Anjem Choudhury, an Islamic preacher and organizer who has frequently voiced radical views and was associated with the Al Muhajiroun group before it was outlawed in 2010.
Scotland Yard said the men, aged between 22 and 51, were arrested on suspicion of being members of, or supporting, a banned organization, said in news reports to be Al Muhajiroun. Scotland Yard said the men, age 22 to 51, were arrested on suspicion of being members of, or supporting, a banned organization, said in news reports to be Al Muhajiroun.
Before it was banned, the group was led by a Syrian-born Islamist cleric, Omar Bakri Muhammad, who left Britain for Lebanon in 2005 and has been barred from returning. Before it was banned, the group was led by a Syrian-born Islamist cleric, Omar Bakri Muhammad, who left Britain for Lebanon in 2005 and has been barred from returning. He was arrested in May in Lebanon, where he had expressed support for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, the Sunni militant group that has taken over tracts of Iraq and Syria in its quest to establish an Islamic caliphate.
He was arrested in May in Lebanon, where he had expressed support for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, the Sunni militant group that has taken over tracts of Iraq and Syria in its quest to establish an Islamic caliphate.
The British police said the arrests were “part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk.”The British police said the arrests were “part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk.”
Mr. Choudhury has frequently courted official disapproval in Britain, voicing support for radical Islamists such as Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born preacher who was killed by an American drone strike in Yemen in 2011.Mr. Choudhury has frequently courted official disapproval in Britain, voicing support for radical Islamists such as Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born preacher who was killed by an American drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
He has also organized protests against British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to disrupt ceremonies and parades marking the return of British soldiers, or their bodies, from those distant battlegrounds.He has also organized protests against British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to disrupt ceremonies and parades marking the return of British soldiers, or their bodies, from those distant battlegrounds.
The arrests came a day after Mr. Cameron told the United Nations in New York that he would recall Parliament on Friday to seek lawmakers’ approval for British participation in the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. But he stopped short of saying British warplanes, based on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, would join attacks by the United States and several Arab nations on targets in Syria.The arrests came a day after Mr. Cameron told the United Nations in New York that he would recall Parliament on Friday to seek lawmakers’ approval for British participation in the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. But he stopped short of saying British warplanes, based on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, would join attacks by the United States and several Arab nations on targets in Syria.
“We should be uncompromising, using all the means at our disposal — including military force — to hunt down these extremists,” Mr. Cameron said. He told reporters that the Islamic State militants represented a “clear and present danger to the United Kingdom.”“We should be uncompromising, using all the means at our disposal — including military force — to hunt down these extremists,” Mr. Cameron said. He told reporters that the Islamic State militants represented a “clear and present danger to the United Kingdom.”
The British leader said he was confident of winning support for the deployment from Parliament, which last year refused to authorize military action in Syria after chemical weapons were used in the civil war there.The British leader said he was confident of winning support for the deployment from Parliament, which last year refused to authorize military action in Syria after chemical weapons were used in the civil war there.