(Bloomberg) -- London terror police arrested a man Tuesday as part of a probe into speeches that encouraged criminal activity.
The man, who is in his 60s, was arrested in northwest London on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offenses, police said in an emailed statement. Their probe is looking at speeches made by an individual associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Pakistan.
He was taken to a south London police station, where he currently remains in custody.
As part of the investigation, officers searched a home and a business. The investigation is being led by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, and is looking at a speech broadcast in August 2016 by an individual associated with the MQM movement in Pakistan as well as other speeches previously broadcast by the same person.
The MQM was once Pakistan's fourth-largest political party, holding 17 of Karachi's 20 seats in the National Assembly. But a split in the party -- which saw the Pakistan faction distance itself from the London movement -- has left it with just seven seats following the 2018 election.
As of 2009, the MQM controlled an armed wing of about 10,000 active members and 25,000 reserves known as the “Good Friends,” that detractors said were responsible for extortion, assassinations of political rivals and murder of people from other ethnic communities, then-U.S. Consul General Stephen Fakan wrote in a classified cable released by WikiLeaks that year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Elser in London at celser@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net, Anthony Aarons
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