Who is Haroon Aswat? Mastermind Behind 9/11 Attack, 7/7 London Bombings to Walk Free Within Days

Haroon Aswat, who confessed to masterminding the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, is days away from possible release from a UK secure hospital, despite officials viewing him as a significant national security risk and granting release without a full risk assessment due to mental health treatment.

Aswat, 50, was jailed in the US for 20 years from 2015, and admitted that he tried to start a terrorist training camp in Oregon. He was deported to Britain in 2022 after a British psychiatrist visited him in America, where he had been declared a terrorist. According to newly surfaced US court documents, the terrorist confessed to being a mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and a 2005 attack in the UK.

Who is Haroon Aswat?

The terrorist was born and brought up in Yorkshire. He began working with hate preacher Abu Hamza after he moved to Wood Green in north London. Together, they planned a terrorist camp in the US, for which Aswat moved to Seattle. He met Yorkshire terror sympathiser Mohammed Sidique Khan and his accomplice Shehzad Tanweer while staying in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He is currently detained in Bethlem Royal Hospital in Bromley, south east London. After his release, he will be subject to a notification order. It means he will have to keep updating the police about certain information related to him, including his address, foreign travel details, and vehicle registration.

The newly released document from the US District Court described Aswat as a terrorist and a foot soldier of al-Qaeda. The document, which was released for the first time, revealed that he confessed to his involvement in various terrorist activities.

“In March 2017, the defendant stated, ‘If you think I am a terrorist, I don’t shy away from my responsibility,” the court document read.

The documents stated that the terrorist revealed his association with Osama bin Laden. Aswat admitted that he spent a couple of months training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan just before the 9/11 attack, which claimed the lives of over 3000 people.

In addition, his name was found in a ledger discovered in a house in Pakistan. It was a place where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, stayed. His other activities include helping hate preacher Abu Hamza start a US terror camp in 1999.

During his stay in Pakistan in 2002, he met two 7/7 bombers — possessing a terror manual and alleged bomb materials. Police traced 20 calls the 7/7 bombers made to a phone linked to Aswat. Apart from his role in the London bombings that killed 52 people, Aswat threatened to kill Christians, Jews, and several groups of Muslims.

‘A Risk to National Security’

In a witness statement, Det Chief Supt Gareth Rees, head of operations for the Met’s SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, raised his concerns about the release of Aswat and said, “Based on my experience, this is conduct which gives me grave concerns about the risk which the defendant poses to the UK’s national security and to the public”.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick also raised his concerns about setting this despicable terrorist free and said he should never be allowed to walk free.

“This despicable man was behind one of the most deadly attacks in modern history. He should never experience freedom again”, he said.

Other Officials shared similar opinions about setting this terrorist free. Mr. Justice Robert Jay from the High Court said there was evidence of an ongoing risk, as he remains a risk to national security. His words are as follows:

Dr. Richard Taylor, who travelled to America in 2022, said in a report compiled by him — “There remains the risk of Islamic violent extremism motivated targeted terrorist offending behavior, given his threats to kill Jews, Christians and certain groups of Muslims. There is also a risk of his influencing other vulnerable individuals, as when he is in an abnormal mental state, his religious extremist rhetoric is amplified by mental illness”.

Meanwhile, a Government Spokesperson said, “Protecting our national security is the very first priority of this government, and if any individual poses a threat to that security, the police and intelligence services have a range of powers they can apply to deal with that threat. We will always do whatever is necessary within the law to protect the public from any risk posed by former terrorist offenders or people of terrorist concern”.