Void of Evidence, Ample Concerns

"These guys are very good at knowing where the limits of the law lie. They're also very slick, very plausible and very persuasive."
Richard Barrett, former counterterrorism director, Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6

"You need sufficient evidence. And they have no evidence whatsoever."
Anjem Choudary, Pakistani-British lawyer

"If you look at the people who have been through Choudary's organizations, it's deeply worrying. And his role has been pivotal."
"There's no evidence that he's directly implicated in these plots. But he gives the ideological justification for jihad, for war against the West. And around him are figures who are much more involved in sending people to Syria or encouraging people to go to terrorist training."
Nick Lowles, chief executive, Hope Not Hate, London

"There's a lot of bluster coming from these guys. You need to stand up, challenge them and rubbish their ideas."
Ghaffar Hussein, former Islamist, now chief, Quilliam Foundation, London

Anjem Choudary in a cafe in Walthamstow. Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Observer

Clever enough and learned enough in the country's legal system to avoid the pitfalls that would entrap less legally-attuned minds there is a confident arrogance that emanates from Anjem Choudary, admired by those who believe he is simply exercising his free rights as a British citizen to expound his views on militant Islam, clearly stating his allegiance to Islamist jihad, not the country which has given him citizenship.

His network of organizations is considered by counterterrorism officials and experts to be inspiring and influential in recruiting Muslims to their universal cause of jihad, to contribute to the ultimate success of a universal caliphate. Mr. Choudary states with the confidence of one wholly steeped in the belief of Islamist superior exceptionalism, that Iraq and Syria represent the beginning of the end of Western civilization as it is known.

As far as he is concerned the future consists of the Islamic State's black flag lofted over 10 Downing Street, and blowing in a Washington wind over the White House. This will not be a peaceful transition, but will result as the inevitable, longed-for aftermath of a great battle that is now launched and that will develop exponentially as Islamists the world over find their stride.

The man has been successful in motivating young Muslin men and women to recognize that they have a duty in the name of Islam, in Britain and overseas to carry out the violence required of them through their obligation to jihad. He and his shadowy groups directly contribute to the indoctrination of people who go on to plan or commit attacks in the United Kingdom. He has become a facilitator in the flow of Europeans to the battlefields of Iraq and Syria.

And he remains free, as a citizen in good standing of the United Kingdom, to spread his virulent brand of messianic political ideology, both on the streets of Britain and through the larger net known as the Internet. Yet he is elusively clever, careful not to overstep any bounds of the law that might leave him vulnerable to prosecution. Even while Prime Minister David Cameron calls jihad the greatest terror threat the country has ever known, hands are tied.

Even when he is taken into custody nothing sticks and he is soon released. For several decades he has represented the forefront of groups outlawed for extremist activities. But once they're out of the picture and closed down, he simply opens a replacement whose structure repeats that of the original, containing most of the same members, but under a new name.

The majority of Brits convicted of extremist-related offences can be traced back to Choudary's network. His parents were immigrants from Pakistan, but he was born and raised in Britain. He lives in Ilford, as do many of his followers. He denies responsibility for encouraging young Muslims to fight overseas, claiming the Islamic State is already swollen with more than enough recruits, and need none through his agency.

The claims made by the west with respect to the brutality of the Islamic State are vastly overblown, he insists. The execution by beheading of Americans, Britons and Syrians and Iraqis notwithstanding. He states whatever comes into his head with perfect aplomb, knowing his rights, daring anyone to remove them. Anyone the Islamic State kills deserved to die, he says.

Ask him if there's any disconnect between his hatred for everything that Britain represents, yet as a father of four he claims state benefits, so why remain in Britain when he could depart for a country whose laws and customs would be more welcoming to his ideology? "Why should I? I was born here", he responds.

"I don't know how misinformed you are, but if I were even to consider going to Turkey, let alone Syria, not only would I be arrested and my passport confiscated but my wife, my mother and children would be harassed and my accounts frozen. You'll basically be treated as a criminal. We have an apartheid system in this country. Muslims are imprisoned over here. We can't travel abroad."