Sudesh Amman was released from prison last month after serving half of his sentence for distributing terrorist material. Metropolitan Police
Sudesh Amman was released from prison last month after serving half of his sentence for distributing terrorist material. Metropolitan Police
Sudesh Amman was released from prison last month after serving half of his sentence for distributing terrorist material. Metropolitan Police
Sudesh Amman was released from prison last month after serving half of his sentence for distributing terrorist material. Metropolitan Police

London terrorist had 'fierce' fascination with extremism and violence


Paul Peachey
  • English
  • Arabic

London terrorist Sudesh Amman encouraged his girlfriend to behead her own parents in a sign of the extremism he nurtured for years before he stabbed three people on the streets of London.

Amman had a desperate ambition to “purge society” and an obsession with knives, a court heard in 2018 as he was jailed for three years and four months for possessing extremist documents, including a bomb-making manual.

The student, 20, embarked on his knife attack days after his mandatory release from prison last month after having served only half of his sentence.

But researchers who highlighted his coming release from prison had expressed concerns that he “ticked every box” indicating he could launch further attacks on his release.

He was young and apparently unrepentant, having smiled when he was jailed, and had sought to disguise his activities through encrypted communication network Telegram.

Amman was caught in 2018 after a Dutch anti-extremism blogger posted one of his messages from a Telegram chat group that showed a knife and two guns, with the caption “armed and ready April 3” overlaid in Arabic.

He was arrested within 24 hours. Police seized a stash of weapons and extremist material at the home he shared with his mother and five brothers.

The seized items “demonstrated the worrying extent of his terrorist mindset”, police said.

They found almost 350,000 files on his devices, including manuals such as US Army Knife Manual Techniques and Bloody Brazilian Knife Fighting.

They also discovered that he shared four links to videos showing graphic ISIS violence.

He shared graphic images on a WhatsApp group with siblings as young as 11 and said: “Radicalising is not wasting time”.

Police said “a number of vulnerable people” connected to Amman had received counter-radicalisation counselling after his arrest.

Officers found a notebook at his home that demonstrated his fascination with dying in the name of terrorism.

“We were able to show the court that Amman had a fierce interest in violence and martyrdom,” said Alexis Boon, head of London’s counter-terrorist command, in 2018.

Amman was one of about 180 convicted extremists to be released early from jail in the past two decades, analysis from the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank in London, showed.

It highlighted his coming release with two other prisoners this month, as he appeared to be a high-risk case despite receiving a fairly short sentence.

The group’s concern appeared to be shared by officials as he was under surveillance by undercover police, an expensive operation that would only be used for a few suspects, spokesman Samuel Armstrong said.

Amman's rapid path from release to terrorist attack has raised further questions about the quality of de-radicalisation programmes in jails.

Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who carried out a review of extremism in prisons for the UK government, told the BBC that the death of Amman, who was shot by police during his knife attack, was the “dismal end of a clearly broken risk management and intervention process that starts off in prison custody”.

“I’m still profoundly unconvinced that the prison service has the appetite and the aptitude to assertively manage terrorist offenders from the first day they are in custody to the last day they are on community supervision," Mr Acheson said.

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

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The Sky Is Pink

Director: Shonali Bose

Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf

Three stars

INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
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Seven tips from Emirates NBD

1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details

2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet

3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details

4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure

5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs  (one-time passwords) with third parties

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7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately

Defending champions

World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The specs
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  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
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Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
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Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
While you're here
Key facilities
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  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What is 'Soft Power'?

Soft power was first mentioned in 1990 by former US Defence Secretary Joseph Nye. 
He believed that there were alternative ways of cultivating support from other countries, instead of achieving goals using military strength. 
Soft power is, at its root, the ability to convince other states to do what you want without force. 
This is traditionally achieved by proving that you share morals and values.

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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

RACECARD

6pm Emaar Dubai Sprint – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m

6.35pm Graduate Stakes – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.10pm Al Khail Trophy – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,810m

7.45pm UAE 1000 Guineas – Listed (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m

8.20pm Zabeel Turf – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 2,000m

8.55pm Downtown Dubai Cup – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 1,400m

9.30pm Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m

10.05pm Dubai Sprint – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m 

India squads

T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur

Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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The Little Things

Directed by: John Lee Hancock

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto

Four stars

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Tales of Yusuf Tadros

Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)

Hoopoe