One of the London Bridge terrorists appeared on a documentary about jihadists where he was filmed praying towards the black flag of Islam.
Khuram Butt, shot dead by police after his rampage on Saturday night, was seen nodding thoughtfully on the programme as a preacher delivered a sermon stating that the only real life was the afterlife.
The bearded man was part of a group of extremists whose former leader fled to join Islamic State and is believed to have killed five unarmed people by shooting them in the back of the head for a propaganda video.
The Jihadis Next Door was based on two years of filming Muslim extremists by Jamie Roberts. One of the hate preachers in the film taunted Theresa May by saying that she could solve the extremism problem by giving back passports confiscated from radicals who would then flee the country.
Butt appeared in a segment of the documentary where he joined a protest outside Regent’s Park mosque in London, promoting views sympathetic to Isis.
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The seven demonstrators then went to the park where they tried to find the direction of Mecca — Butt, wearing a Middle Eastern-style full body gown and headdress, said: “Anyone got a smartphone?” He unfurled the black flag of Islam, a symbol associated with Muslim armies for the past 1,200 years but one that is regularly adopted by extremists, including Isis. The men knelt down and prayed towards it.
The group’s leader, Mohammed Shamsuddin, preached to them: “The real life is the life of the akhirah [afterlife], not this life. This is not the real life, my dear brothers. This is a passing time for us so this is a type of jihad for you.”
Afterwards, the police confronted some of the men, including Butt, as they left the park. An officer said a member of the public complained that they had been seen with an “Isis-looking flag” and asked whether they had identification. The terrorist shook his head.
Mr Shamsuddin then rejoined the group and became angry with the police officer who was patiently explaining his concerns.
Butt inflamed the situation by saying: “What are you touching him for?” even though the footage suggests the officer had not touched Mr Shamsuddin.
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Police detained the men under section 44 of the Terrorism Act but were unable to find the flag and released them without charge.
The video shows a direct line between Islamic State and the London Bridge attacks. Butt’s extremist group was led at first by the British-born Abu Rumaysah, a convert born Siddhartha Dhar into a Hindu family, who jumped bail and escaped to Syria with his wife and four children in 2014.
The fugitive appeared to take part in a video for Isis of the shooting of five unarmed hostages from behind. The killer was masked but spoke in an English accent matching Abu Rumaysah’s.
He was replaced as chief spokesman for the British extremist group by Mr Shamsuddin. The divorced father-of-five, who was said to have suffered chronic fatigue syndrome since he was 18, lives on benefits. Mr Shamsuddin became a radical Muslim activist and dropped out of university 20 years ago after meeting the hardline cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who has since been banned from Britain. In one scene Mr Shamsuddin was filmed laughing and eating while watching Isis videos of victims being killed.
Mr Shamsuddin said of Abu Rumaysah, whose whereabouts are now unknown: “He is my Muslim brother. I think he is from the best of Muslims . . . Our message is deadly. Of course it is. We are calling for world domination.”
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The documentary also featured Abu Haleema, a hate preacher with a strong following on the internet.
dkennedy@thetimes.co.uk
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
The Islamic radicals featured in Channel 4’s The Jihadis Next Door
Abu Rumaysah
Born Siddhartha Dhar, the bouncy castle salesman was identified as the masked Islamic State killer who shot dead five men in a propaganda video last year. He was arrested six times before fleeing Britain for Syria. He announced his arrival in Isis-held territory by putting a photo on social media of himself holding an assault rifle and his newborn baby.
Mohammed Shamsuddin
The spokesman for the group of Muslim radicals featured in the documentary was once arrested on suspicion of membership of al-Muhajiroun. Mr Shamsuddin was careful to avoid saying anything that could be seen as explicit support for banned organisations.
Abu Haleema
The hate preacher, a follower of Anjem Choudary, has posted more than 100 videos on YouTube. He has promised that the kuffar [non-believers] will “die like dogs, innit”. He said Muslims who wear poppies “don’t read the Koran or they don’t understand their Deen [religion]”.
Abdullah Deen
A ginger-bearded former cocaine dealer and Millwall fan from south London, he has convictions for violence and called Lee Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo a friend. Inspired by Choudary, he attended the same mosque as the killer.
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Abu Mutassim
The Birmingham-based preacher has said on YouTube that Islamic State will “most certainly come to the West”. He has had his passport confiscated, which he said made him feel important.
Omar Bakri Mohammed
The extremist Syrian cleric inspired a generation of British jihadists before being expelled from the UK. He founded the hardline al-Muhajiroun organisation and was a key figure at Finsbury Park mosque in north London when it was run by the hate preacher Abu Hamza.