Mizanur Rahman laughs when he recalls the de-radicalization program he was sent on in 2008 after being released from a British jail where he had served two years for inciting violence against British and American troops.

"I'd go there, I'd sign my name, play pool with some other radicals that I was in prison with, and I'd go home," said Rahman, arrested again last month on suspicion of terrorism offenses. He denies wrongdoing and has not been charged.

The 31-year-old Londoner denounces his fortnightly de-radicalization sessions over a six-month period as a gimmick. It is a conclusion shared by many British politicians. For more than a decade.