The eight men who stood in prayer behind Islamic State flag in London

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in London’s Regent’s Park, eight men stand in prayer behind a black flag used by groups including Islamic State.

The men were caught on camera for The Jihadis Next Door, a Channel 4 documentary that was aired in 2016 and which lifted the lid on the scale of Islamic fanaticism in Britain.

The event was organised by Al-Muhajiroun, a group led by the hate preacher Anjem Choudary which had been banned by the Government in 2006.

The prayers were led by Mohammed Shamsuddin, 42, a hate preacher who has claimed benefits for much of his life and who was effectively Choudary’s deputy.

Today, The Mail on Sunday can reveal the identities of all eight men and the lives of hate-filled extremism they went on to lead.

1) Shakil Chapra

A former part-time bus driver who spouts hatred on YouTube using the name Abu Haleema.

He was stripped of his passport in 2014 over fears he wanted to join IS in Syria and was quizzed by police about his association with a British schoolboy later jailed for life for encouraging a man in Australia to carry out an atrocity.

2) Murat Kocchat

An extremist thought to be of Turkish-Kurdish origin. He has been photographed attending Al-Muhajiroun rallies and was caught on camera in the Channel 4 documentary listening closely to Shamsuddin sermon.

3) Abdul Muquith

Using the name Abu Sayfillaah, Muquith posts lectures on YouTube in which he says Muslims must never mingle or live with non-Muslims. It is understood his face was obscured in the documentary because he was then under police investigation.

4) Khuram Butt

The mastermind of the London Bridge terror attack in June 2017 that left eight people dead. The married father of two was described as a ‘heavyweight’ member of Al-Muhajiroun.

5) Emmanuel Kelly Asamoah

A regular at Al-Muhajiroun rallies, Asamoah was photographed at a 2014 demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London with extremists including Siddhartha Dhar, who fled to Syria in 2014.

6) Adinan Abdulatif

An extremist from Barking, East London, Abdulatif was involved in credit card fraud with Butt in the months before the London Bridge atrocity. He later pleaded guilty to fraud.

7) Taha Hussain

The 21-year-old from Slough, Berkshire, was jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2017 for making a video outside Windsor Castle in which he pledged to kill non-believers.

8) Ricardo McFarlane

A veteran Al-Muhajiroun preacher, the 32-year-old convert was arrested in 2012 for leading ‘Sharia patrols’ in East London to impose Islamic law on the streets. He was sentenced to 26 weeks for his role in intimidating people.

The mastermind of the London Bridge terror cell repeatedly communicated with a 33-year-old man from East London in the hours before the deadly rampage, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Irfan Saeed, who lives in a council flat in Newham, was in contact with killer Khuram Butt, 27, by phone and text message in the five hours before the knife-wielding gang of fanatics went on a murder spree that left eight people dead.

Evidence submitted to the inquest into the attack on June 3, 2017, details how Butt called Saeed just after 5pm, shortly after hiring the van that carried him, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Yousef Zaghba, 22, into Central London. Butt also sent a text to Saeed at about the same time.

Saeed texted the terrorist back and then called him unsuccessfully at least six times between 5.10pm and before the rampage began at about 10pm.

Two days after the atrocity – in which the three killers were shot dead by police – Saeed contacted the administrator of a secret WhatsApp group of which both he and Butt were members to request all the content be deleted because ‘police were making arrests’ in Newham.

The WhatsApp group was called ILMA – meaning ‘knowledge’ in Arabic – and was used to share extremist material.

The inquest at the Old Bailey was told how Saeed was among 22 people arrested in connection with the London Bridge rampage.

None was charged but a file on Saeed was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service because detectives suspected he knew about the attack before it was launched, yet did nothing to stop it – an offence that carries a sentence of up to five years.

Saeed, who could not be contacted for comment, has denied any wrongdoing. The inquest continues.

Source: Daily Mail