Ministers rushing emergency law through by February 27 – as next terrorist due for automatic release is revealed
MINISTERS are in a race against time to rush through emergency terror laws within 21 days to stop the next terror convict from being released on Britain’s streets.
The Sun can reveal that the next terror offender due for automatic early release is Mohammed Zahir Khan on February 28.
That has given the Government a deadline of February 27 to pass the emergency legislation they are rushing through Parliament to end the automatic release for all current terror prisoners.
Boris Johnson announced the emergency legislation in the wake of Sunday’s Streatham stabbing spree from Sudesh Amman, who was released automatically last month despite authorities having serious concerns about him.
Khan, a Sunderland shopkeeper, was jailed for four and a half years in May 2018 for encouraging acts of terror, disseminating terror material and inciting religious hatred.
A Whitehall official described him as an “extremely concerning individual”.
The Government is aiming to complete the House of Commons stage of the legislation by the end of next week, before Parliament breaks for a week’s recess.
That will give the House of Lords just three days to complete its own stage of the bill when Parliament returns on February 24.
Ministers fear human rights campaigners in the Lords will try to scupper the law - risking delaying the legislation, which would leave the authorities powerless to stop six dangerous terror convicts out on the streets.
They hope that the Lords will be persuaded against rebelling now they know about the danger posed by several jihadis due for early release if they fail to back the emergency law.
A Whitehall official said: "If the legislation is passed by February 27 we can prevent the automatic release of any further terrorist suspects who might pose a threat to the public."
'UNINHIBITED HATRED'
Khan is the first of six terror convicts due to be released from prison within the next two months.
The twisted firebrand shopkeeper, 42, was jailed for four and a half years after he admitted possessing a dossier of terror material.
Khan – who spent years in prison for drugs offences in Birmingham – said initially that had amassed the bile filed material “recklessly” but a judge called him out for his “uninhibited hatred.”
The father of one, originally from Birmingham, spread hatred on Twitter – targeting Shia Muslims saying "death to shias ... death to every single one of them", describing them as "dirty and filthy shiite scum" and calling for them to be burnt alive.
He also tweeted in January 2017: "Welcome to the year of fear, IS will make this one the deadliest ever. Mr Kuffar (non-believers) prepare for real war.";
'Can't watch all jihadi's all the time'
By Mike Sullivan, Crime editor
THE UK’s highest-ranking counter-terror cop has warned that there are too many jihadi suspects to be watched all the time.
Met Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu said there were too many “subjects of interest” on the radar to keep tabs on - like the armed surveillance operation mounted on Streatham attacker Sudesh Amman.
He said of the 19-year-old jihadi: “Police and the security services knew the attacker posed a significant risk and we were, unfortunately, proved right in our decision to place him under surveillance.
"But with 3,000 or so subjects of interest on our radar and many convicted terrorists soon due to be released, we simply cannot watch all of them, all the time.”
The Met Police assistant commissioner backed Government plans to make terrorists serve two-thirds of their jail terms instead of half.
His Facebook page also showed an Islamic State flag and a statement about martyrdom.
He also re-posted a tweet which included an IS call to attack US bases in Bahrain.
Judge Paul Sloan QC told him: "You had an uninhibited hatred for Shiite Muslims, President Assad and his regime, non-believers and hatred for some Western countries such as the US."
Among the five further terrorists believed to be due for release in March are Mohammed Ghani from Barnet, Jamshed Javeed from Manchester, Mohammed Khilji from north-west London, Atiq Ahmed from Oldham and Britain’s ‘youngest terrorist’ known only as RXG.
He was sentenced in 2015 for plotting to murder police officers in Australia but is due for release within the next month.
Ghani, from Barnet, north London, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison May last year after threatening to kill police officers.
Khilji, from north-west London, was sentenced to five years in prison in June 2018 after being found guilty of posting beheading videos on WhatsApp, as well as footage giving advice on how to make a car bomb.
Ahmed was arrested after hurling abuse at staff at a school in the town and later found to have IS propaganda on his phone, is due to be released in March.
And Javeed was jailed for six years in March 2015 for planning to travel from his Manchester home to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State (IS).
They are among 50 terrorists who are due for early release this year.
In total there are 224 terrorists in prison in Britain, with most thought to be holding Islamist extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.
MOST READ IN
Convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman wore a fake suicide belt as he grabbed a knife from a shop in Streatham High Road, south London, on Sunday, before stabbing two bystanders.
The 20-year-old had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, but was freed automatically halfway through his sentence less than a fortnight ago.
He was put under 24-hour police surveillance on his release, and sources have described him as an "extremely concerning individual".
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