The radical Islamist cleric who told Sean Hannity that “Shariah will be implemented in America” has reportedly made an announcement: He is ready to renounce his British citizenship and join the Islamic State.
Anjem Choudary told the U.K. Times that if authorities will guarantee him safe passage to the territories controlled by the Islamic State, he will leave the United Kingdom.
The British-born cleric said he would have joined the Islamic State already, had the authorities not seized his passport when he was arrested during a terror raid in London in September.
Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary speaks to a group of demonstrators outside the U.S. Embassy in London, Sept. 14, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images)
“I want to know from the Home Office and the Crown Prosecution Service if it is illegal for me to travel to live in the Islamic State if I have no intention of carrying out acts of terrorism,” he said, according to Al Arabiya.
“I believe the world belongs to God and that one day, hopefully, the U.K. will be part of an Islamic State," he added. "Why shouldn’t I be free to travel to the khilafah [caliphate] and see what life is like under the Shariah?”
Choudary has spoken highly of the Islamic State in the past, calling its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "the caliph of all Muslims and the prince of the believers" and refusing to condemn the beheading of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Choudary has been described as England's "most prominent propagandist for the Islamic State," and his willingness to join the group may encourage even more disaffected youths to join the fight.
The chairman of the U.K. government’s home affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, said having Choduary go would likely be a "much better scenario than having him stay." But that doesn't mean the British government will guarantee his safe passage to Syria.
“Why should the Home Office or anyone else give him safe passage?" Vaz demanded. "He must take the consequences if he is propagating the views of ISIS, then he is putting himself at risk of prosecution. I think people would like to see the back of him."
Read the complete story at The Times.
