Radical leader held on suspicion of encouraging terror

ANTI-TERRORISM police yesterday arrested one of Britain’s most controversial Muslim figures, Abu Izzadeen, who was watched by millions on television last year heckling Home Secretary John Reid at a public meeting.

Mr Izzadeen, 31, from east London, was held by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of encouraging terrorism “as a result of an ongoing inquiry”.

Mr Izzadeen, who was born Trevor Brooks in Jamaica, was a leading figure in the banned radical Islamic group Al-Ghurabaa and shot to prominence when he heckled Mr Reid during a speech to Muslim leaders last September. The tall imposing figure, dressed in white robes, shouted that Mr Reid was “an enemy of Islam” as the minister tried to deliver a speech calling for Muslims to do more to root out extremism.