Hassan Butt, a former member of al-Muhajiroun who claims to have rejected jihadist ideology, has been arrested by British police under anti-terrorism laws.
Butt was arrested at Manchester airport on Saturday as he tried to board a flight to the city of Lahore in Pakistan. According to the Manchester Evening News he had brought his ticket for the flight just 45 minutes before it was due to depart.
Following his arrest, police reportedly searched two houses in Prestwick, Lancashire and a third house in north Manchester. Two cars have also been taken away for forensic examination.
During 2001-2, Butt was one of Britain's most prominent Islamic extremists, telling the media that he had helped several British Muslim volunteers to travel to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. More recently, however, he claimed to have abandoned his extremist beliefs and to have begun de-radicalising his fellow extremists.
Before his arrest, Butt has working with journalist Shiv Malik on a book about his life. The book was due to have been published this summer. In the last few weeks, the Manchester police had demanded that Malik hand over his book manuscript to them.
