A terrorist who confessed to masterminding both the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks is set to be released soon in the UK despite being deemed a serious national security risk, sparking fear and outrage over the potential danger his freedom could bring.

A terrorist who once confessed to playing key roles in both the 9/11 attacks in the United States and the 7/7 bombings in London is set to be released back into public life in the United Kingdom within days, sparking outrage and fear among politicians, police, and the public alike.

Haroon Aswat, now 50, was described by multiple officials as a dangerous and unrepentant extremist who still poses a “grave” threat to national security. Yet he may soon be free to walk the streets of Britain without undergoing a formal terrorism risk assessment.

Aswat, a British national born in Yorkshire and later radicalized in north London, served most of a 20-year sentence in the U.S. after pleading guilty in 2015 to attempting to set up a jihadist training camp in Oregon alongside hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri.

He was extradited back to the UK in December 2022 following psychiatric evaluation.

But what has caused the latest uproar is not merely his release, but what has emerged in newly declassified U.S. court documents.

According to those documents, Aswat reportedly confessed to being “a mastermind” behind both the September 11 attacks—which killed nearly 3,000 people—and the July 7, 2005 London bombings, in which 52 commuters lost their lives in coordinated suicide blasts on the Underground and a bus.

“In March 2017, the defendant stated, ‘If you think I’m a terrorist, I don’t shy away from my responsibility,’” one court transcript read. “He also stated he was a mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and a 2005 terrorist attack in the UK.”

In addition to his direct connections to Osama bin Laden and multiple al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, Aswat’s name was discovered in a ledger recovered from a compound in Pakistan used by 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

His links to the 7/7 bombers are also chillingly well-documented: he met with Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer in Pakistan in 2002, and investigators later traced more than 20 calls made by the bombers to a phone linked to Aswat.

Despite all of this, Aswat is currently being held not in a prison but in Bethlem Royal Hospital, a secure psychiatric facility in Bromley, southeast London.

Due to his mental health status—diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder—he has been under treatment rather than incarceration.

A British psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Taylor, who evaluated him in the U.S. in 2022, reported that while Aswat had shown some signs of mental stabilization, he continued to espouse violent extremist ideology even when not exhibiting symptoms of illness.

“There remains the risk of Islamic violent extremism motivated targeted terrorist offending behavior,” Dr. Taylor concluded, noting that Aswat had made threats to kill Jews, Christians, and rival Muslim sects.

“There is also a risk of him influencing other vulnerable individuals, especially when in an abnormal mental state. His religious extremist rhetoric is amplified by mental illness.”

Dr. Taylor also observed traits of “glibness, superficial charm, charisma, intelligence and elements of manipulativeness and narcissism” in Aswat’s behavior, raising further concerns about his ability to mask violent intent behind a composed facade.

And yet, no full terrorist risk assessment has been conducted since his return to the UK, due to the circumstances of his detention in a mental health facility.

This fact was acknowledged by Mr Justice Robert Jay of the High Court, who nonetheless stated earlier this year that “there is evidence of ongoing risk” and noted that “a risk assessment in relation to terrorist offending is always inherently uncertain.”

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick issued a stark warning: “He should never experience freedom again.

The government must explain how someone who has openly admitted to being behind the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history could be allowed back onto our streets.”

Under current plans, Aswat will be subject only to a notification order upon release—meaning he must keep the police informed of his home address, travel, and vehicle registration details, but will not be subject to the far more restrictive Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs).

Critics argue this is shockingly insufficient for someone whose name has surfaced in connection with both 9/11 and 7/7, and who has a history of threatening behavior against prison staff, police, and religious groups.

Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command echoed those concerns, warning:

“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.”

The public remains largely in the dark about the circumstances of Aswat’s expected release, and whether any new surveillance or monitoring measures will be put in place.

A government spokesperson issued a statement attempting to reassure the public, saying: “Protecting our national security is the first priority of this government.

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.”

But for the families of victims of the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, and for a population already grappling with a history of missed signs in previous terror cases, the government’s response feels dangerously vague.

As one senior counterterror official anonymously told reporters: “When someone admits to being a mastermind of two of the worst terrorist atrocities in modern history, and still shows no remorse — you don’t gamble with that. You don’t hope for the best. You act.”

Whether those actions will come in time remains to be seen. Haroon Aswat could be a free man in a matter of days.