Anjem Choudary, the radical Islamist cleric, has been arrested Thursday in London along with eight others for belonging in a banned Muslim organization and for inciting Islamic radicalism and terrorism.

The notorious Islamist hate preacher and eight other men were picked up by the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police Service on suspicion of being members and/or supporters of a banned Muslim organization called Al-Muhajiroun.

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According to Scotland Yard, 18 properties across London were raided and one residential property in central England was searched in a sweeping operation that has arrested men between the ages 22 to 51. They were being questioned in Central London stations, Metropolitan Police said.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said that the raids were conducted as part of an on-going operation against Islamist group and not in response to any immediate terror threat.

The controversial cleric is known for praising the September 11 atrocity and for calling the installation of the draconian Sharia law in Britain.

Just hours before he was arrested, Choudary posted a series of inflammatory messages on Twitter, branding the West as terrorists and the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State as a "rallying call for Muslims worldwide."

Choudry with another central figure of Islamic radicalism in UK, Syrian national Omar Bakri Muhammad, set up the terrorist group Al-Muhajiroun. Omar was banned from entering UK after the July 2005 bombings that killed 52 civilians and four bombers in London underground trains.

The group also goes by other names, including Islam4UK, and Choudary is said to be its leader. Alan Johnson, UK's former home secretary, banned the group and all the other names under which it operates in 2000.

According to Daily Mail, many of the men arrested have been vocal supporters of the bloody jihad waged by terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Among them, Choudry's friend, radical Muslim activist Trevor Brooks, who has reportedly been in the forefront of social media gloating over the beheadings of American and British hostages by the Islamic State group. 

TagsIslamist hate preacher, Islamist hate preacher Anjem Choudry, Anjem Choudry, Islamic Radicalism