Convicted Al Qaeda terrorist Haroon Rashid Aswat, who took training in Pakistan, linked to London bombings, set to be released in UK despite ‘grave security risk’

The United Kingdom has a penchant for sympathising with Islamic criminals. Be it the Pakistani Muslim grooming/rape gangs or Jihadi terrorists, the British authorities are often found protecting Islamist perpetrators.

In a latest case of misplaced sympathies, convicted Al Qaeda terrorist Haroon Rashid Aswat (50), who trained for Islamic terrorism in Kashmir and masterminded the 7/7 London bombings, is set to be released by the UK authorities despite “grave security risk”.

The High Court judge, Robert Maurice Jay, not only granted release to Islamic terrorist Haroon Rashid Aswat, but also wished him “all the best”.

“I know it can’t have been pleasant to be in custody in the United States all that time. I wish you all the best. The way forward is to continue with the medication, listen to the advice you receive, and stay away from the activities that previously led you to prison. Because you saw where it ended up and you do not want to go back to that, I am sure.” Jay told Aswat.

Haroon Rashid Aswat and his involvement in Islamic terrorism

Originally from Batley, West Yorkshire, Haroon Rashid Aswat was given a 20-year prison sentence in the United States in 2015 for planning to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon with Islamic hate preacher Abu Hamza in the 1990s.

He was repatriated to the UK in 2022 after completing his term, where he was held in mental custody after receiving a schizophrenia disorder diagnosis, until his release was approved recently.

Notably, Haroon Rashid Aswat had earlier admitted that he masterminded the July 7, 2005 attacks, in which four suicide bombers targeted London’s transport network. In this Islamic jihadist attack, 52 innocent people died and over 700 were injured. Aswat also publicly described himself as a terrorist.

Aswat along with fellow Jihadi terrorist, Ouassama Kassir, received jihad training in Pakistan. Aswat also admitted during his trial in US that he supported Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Aswat and Kassir travelled to Seattle also, where they resided inside a mosque for two months.

These two provided men from the mosque with additional terrorist training lessons – including instructions on different types of weapons, how to construct a homemade silencer for a firearm, how to assemble and disassemble an AK-47 and how an AK-47 could be altered to be fully automatic and to launch a grenade. 

The investigation by the US authorities found that a ledger recovered in September 2002 from an al Qaeda safe house in Karachi, Pakistan, listed a number of individuals associated with al Qaeda, including Haroon Rashid Aswat. This safe house was used by Al Qaeda terrorist and alleged planner of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Reports say that Aswat was linked to the London killing after police traced 20 calls made by the suicide bombers to a phone linked to him. Weeks later, Aswat was arrested in Zambia. He was carrying a terror manual and bomb-making materials.

Aswat pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, each of which carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison. 

However, he did not complete his 20 years jail term due to “periods of detention in this country awaiting extradition” being taken into account.

UK judge’s unwarranted sympathy for Haroon Rashid Aswat and legal loopholes

Aswat’s medical reports indicate that despite his medical treatment at the Broadmoor Hospital, even in his “relatively stable” condition, Aswat continues to express violent jihadist ideology.

In April this year, judge Jay who oversaw an application by the Metropolitan Police for a notification order for Aswat’s release, to monitor him when back with his family in West Yorkshire, was informed that Aswat continues to pose a risk to the public, and mental illness exacerbates his Islamic extremism.

Judge Robert Jay noted that Aswat still poses a risk of “violent extremism-motivated targeted terrorist offending behaviour given his threats to kill Jews, Christians and certain groups of Muslims”, and he could also “influence other vulnerable individuals, as when he is in an abnormal mental state his religious extremist rhetoric is amplified by mental illness”.

Despite taking note of Aswat’s terror history and persistent tendency of indulging in Islamic terrorism in future, the judge sympathised with Haroon Rashid Aswat and said to him: “you probably want to put all of this behind you now”, adding that it “could not have been too pleasant being in American custody all that time”.

Due to his alleged mental condition, Aswat was help in a hospital despite being a terrorist instead of a prison. This prevented his formal terrorist risk assessment. Aswat is due for release from psychiatric care without ankle tag monitoring due to a loophole for such mental patients. This loophole forbids checks on psychiatric patients.

Meanwhile, Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees, a top Metropolitan Police terror investigator said, “He has spoken positively of his time with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and expressed aspirations to reconnect with them. Based on my experience, this is conduct which gives me grave concerns about the risk which the defendant poses to the UK’s national security and to the public.”

Judge Robert Jay’s sympathetic approach towards Aswat has sparked outrage in the UK. Nigel Farag, a right-wing leader of the Reform UK Party, demanded Jay’s dismissal and said, “People are demanding much tougher justice. Aswat should be in a maximum security prison for the rest of his days, and Judge Jay should be dismissed.”

Robert Jenrick, shadow Justice Secretary, also criticised Jay’s show of sympathy towards Aswat and said, “It’s an insult to the victims of July 7. No one should wish luck or show sympathy to a convicted terrorist, least of all a High Court judge. Jay should be ashamed of acting as if he were a friend of an extremist.”