British-Pakistani cleric released from jail

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary was released from prison on Friday after serving half of his sentence for urging support to the militant Islamic State group and pledging allegiance to it.

Choudary, 51, who was a key figure for a succession of extremist Islamist groups, emerged early morning from Belmarsh prison in southeast London.

The 51-year-old former lawyer of Pakistani descent was sentenced in 2016 to five-and-a-half years in prison. He has served less than half of his sentence and will complete the rest under strict supervision, the BBC reported.

Authorities have been making preparations to stop him from inciting support for terrorism and he will in effect be banned from making any public statements or speaking with the media.

Before the release, Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said that Choudary, from Ilford in east London, remained a "genuinely dangerous" figure and that the "completely pernicious" cleric would be watched "very, very carefully" by the police and security services, according to the Guardian.

Choudary once headed up the al-Muhajiroun network, a leading extremist group which was banned under terrorism laws.

The father-of-five did not organise terror attacks, but is considered one of the UK's most prominent radicalisers.

According to the BBC, when an offender is released at the midway point of their sentence, the rest is spent in the community "on licence". This means he will not be free but must comply with a list of conditions. If he breaches them, he risks being recalled to prison.

UK officials believe they have drafted conditions that will stop Choudary from repeating his method of encouraging support for extremism, which enabled him to escape prosecution for years even as his propaganda motivated at least 100 people to pursue terrorism.

Mark Rowley, the former UK head of counter-terror policing, said it was important "not to overstate his (Choudary's) significance".

"At the end of the day he's a pathetic groomer of others, that's what he has done in the past," said Rowley. "He's not some sort of evil genius we all need to be afraid of."

--IANS

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