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His links to the extreme Hizb ut-Tahrir were revealed by bloggers, including Scott Burgess and , last week after Aslam wrote a July 13 article about the suicide bombers in The Guardian. The piece referred to the 7/7 suicide bombings as "sassy".

Following the revelation of Aslam's links with Hizb ut-Tahrir, The Guardian launched an internal investigation into Aslam, who it said did not reveal he was a member of the Islamist political party when he joined the paper as a trainee despite being invited to do so.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is legal in the UK, but it is banned in many other countries around the world, and the Home Office does say that the party, as well as having the ultimate aim of establishing "an Islamic state [Caliphate], holds anti-Semitic and anti-western views".

In a statement, The Guardian said that Aslam had made no secret of his membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir, but the paper said it should have revealed his political affiliations when he wrote the July 13 article about the suicide bombers.

After its internal investigation, The Guardian said Aslam was told that it considered that Hizb ut-Tahrir had promoted violence and anti-Semitic material and that membership of the organisation was not compatible with being a Guardian trainee.

Since learning of the paper's decision, Hizb ut-Tahrir member Aslam has said he is considering legal action against the paper for the way he has been treated.

"I am shocked by the manner in which this whole affair has been handled. My treatment throws up issues which will be of grave concern to all journalists. I am currently taking legal advice," Aslam said.

Before being asked to leave the paper, Aslam was invited to meet editor Alan Rusbridger and Guardian Newspaper's chief executive Carolyn McCall, where he refused to leave Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Having considered all the circumstances, McCall took the view that Aslam could not remain a member of The Guardian's trainee scheme. The paper said it would carry a clarification making it clear that Aslam's membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir should have been mentioned in the context of his July 13 article.

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