Hate preacher to be hit by UN sanctions

REVILED hate preacher Anjem Choudary is to be personally targeted by United Nations sanctions when he is released from prison this week, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Ministers are steeling themselves for a public outcry when Choudary, who led the banned terror organisation al-Muhajiroun, is freed after serving just half of a five-anda-half-year term for inciting British jihadis to fight for Islamic State.

They have admitted that they were powerless to halt his release.

But after a diplomatic push led by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, UN Security Council powers will be used to hit Choudary with an asset freeze and travel ban – and even force him to be subject to its ‘arms embargo provisions’.

The move, carried out with the close co-operation of French President Emmanuel Macron’s government, means that each UN member state is legally obliged to freeze his financial assets, prevent him from entering their countries and stop any weapons reaching him. It is believed such draconian measures have only once been used before in Britain – against Abu Hamza al-Masri, the hook-handed Egyptian cleric who preached Islamic fundamentalism and militant Islam London before being extradited to America in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Choudary will have to live in a taxpayer-funded bail hostel in North London, and will be subject to stringent restrictions on his activities – or risk an immediate return to jail. These will include an evening curfew, the wearing of a GPS electronic tag and a ban on visiting specific venues.

A senior Government source said of the UN action against Choudary: ‘This shows we are serious about taking all necessary action to destroy Islamic State.’