‘Terrorist made six visits to Ireland’
LONDON Bridge terrorist Khuram Butt visited Ireland SIX times during the past two years, it has been claimed.
According to a 26-year-old Irish woman, who socialised with extremists while living in London, Butt and UK-based radical preacher Anjem Choudary, travelled so frequently between Ireland and Britain, that they stayed in rental properties here.
She spent yesterday making statements to gardaí about Islamist extremists living in Ireland and, according to Dublin-based cleric Shaykh Umar, also provided a detailed account of Butt’s and Choudary’s visits here.
Gardaí said last night that they could not comment on whether the woman met officers.
However, a garda source told the Irish Mail on Sunday that gardaí would have been alerted by UK security sources about any visits to Ireland by known extremists and people such as Choudary would have been placed under surveillance while here.
The source said: ‘I would expect that if people like Choudary were coming here we would know about that, there’s no doubt.’
Butt, 27, was one of the three terrorists involved in last weekend’s terror attack in London in which eight people were killed.
It emerged that one of the other attackers, Rachid Redouance, had lived and married here in 2012.
The 26-year-old Irish woman came forward after seeing photos of the three attackers this week.
She spoke at a press conference held at the Islamic Muslim Peace and Integration Council in Dublin last Friday and according to Shaykh Umar was then contacted by security sources.
The woman is originally from the south west and is so fearful of retribution that she wore a disguise.
She was introduced as Sister Aaliya and claimed that she had converted to Islam in London aged 18.
Shaykh Umar explained: ‘Butt and Choudary have been coming to Ireland for the past two-and-a-half years. Butt was here in 2015 and 2016 and she saw him in the same house three times each year.’
Choudary was jailed last year for five-and-a-half years for supporting Isis.
The Justice Department said last night that Butt and Choudary’s visits here had been ‘brought to the attention’ of gardaí.