David Leask: After the elation of freedom, and his mother's lamb curry, Siddique tells how West's war on terror should be fought

The 24-year-old, once branded a "wannabe suicide bomber", is telling The Scotsman about his plans to go back to his studies and learn a trade.

But his brother Asif, who can't stop grinning, butts in. He reckons it's time Siddique – released on Tuesday after the Court of Appeal quashed his main conviction – gets back to work in the family shop in Alva, Clackmannanshire.

"He has got four years of shifts to make up," Asif says with a grin, referring to the time his brother spent behind bars. "He needs to get back behind the counter."

Atif Siddique is happy, he says, to make up lost time at the family shop and "settle back in to my community and family". But he makes it clear he sees a bigger future for himself, perhaps at university. Then his 29-year-old brother interrupts again: "Just don't say you are going to study computing."

The pair are sitting in the Glasgow office of Aamer Anwar, Siddique's solicitor. They are talking about Tuesday night's celebrations, at the family home in Alva with his father Mohammad and mother Parveen, Pakistani immigrants. "It was the first decent meal I had had in four years," Siddique says. "There is nothing like your mother's cooking – lamb curry and rice. There were hugs and there were tears. All the family and friends came round. There were nieces and nephews who didn't recognise me because they were born when I was in jail."

Siddique had walked right out of the High Court in Edinburgh. His younger sister Ayesha was so moved she fainted in court. She had heard judges say that her brother – although still convicted of three minor charges, two terrorism-related – had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice on his main conviction. He was free to go after four years, most in solitary confinement with just a PlayStation for company.

Yesterday Siddique – looking little like photos of an unshaven, thin-faced man broadcast around the world as he became Scotland's first convicted Islamist "terrorist" – could not stop smiling. "The last years have been a total roller-coaster, specially for my family," he says. Siddique has already confessed to being a "numpty" rather than a terrorist. Yesterday his brother Asif – who also spent five days behind bars after being arrested as a suspect (he admits he was "never so scared in my life") – said he thought Siddique had simply been immature.

"He was arrested when he was 18 or 19 years old. At that age youngsters will go out of line, trying an illegal drug or alcohol or something else. For Atif, it was religion," says Asif says.

Siddique always said he had gone online to "look for answers". After four years in jail, has he found them? "Yes," he says. "Suicide bombing is wrong. You can't kill innocent people."

HAVE his views changed? "Of course," he answers. "Blowing somebody else up it is not allowed in Islam. I condemn suicide bombing, my family condemns suicide bombing and Islam condemns suicide bombing."

However, he says he had to work out his answers for himself. There was no help in prison, no "deradicalisation" programme along the lines of services provided in England for people convicted of similar offences. "I had to do everything myself. I sat talking to imams at whatever establishment I was at. Clearly, it was up to the prison to facilitate some kind of programme. I asked the prison to check what England does. They said they had courses there but that they did not have anything in Scotland."

Siddique had concerned acquaintances with his old views. He is convicted, among other things, of a breach of the peace by showing images of terrorism to people on his computer and upsetting them. Were the authorities right to be worried about his behaviour? Yes, he admits, they were. But they shouldn't have jailed him for it, he says. They should have re-educated him.

Referring to programmes run by a London-based charity, he says: "Would it be better to spend taxpayers' money to put me on a 'Quilliam course'? Would it not have been better to give me a better understanding of my religion and clear up any issues instead of sending me to prison?" Now he has some suggestions for UK authorities on how to fight the war on terror.

SIDDIQUE wants to see a review of terrorism laws – and not just the now increasingly controversial Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the bit of law under which he was convicted, which critics believe creates a "thought crime". That section, it was revealed yesterday, is now to be reviewed by the government's watchdog of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile.

He also believes other parts of the law are counterproductive. The same law brought the Section 44 "stop and search rule". It has been deemed illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.

Siddique believes Section 44 is being used to target young Muslims. He says: "If your appearance happens to be Asian or Muslim, you are stopped and searched. Of course, that is going to alienate more Muslims, the very Muslims that government needs if it is going to win the war on terror." Siddique says he is still unclear on what materials he or anyone else is allowed to access online. He had downloaded huge quantities of articles, most in Arabic, a language he does not speak. It would have taken years to have read them, even if he could understand them. He also trawled the internet for news about Liverpool FC, what was happening in cricket and his favourite R&B and hip-hop acts.

He says: "I still don't know if it is legal for me to download off the internet or not.

"And not only downloading. The government needs to clarify the full terrorism law itself. It is not like drugs – you know drugs are illegal. There are advertisements on TV, fliers and everything else telling you so. You have nothing for the terrorism act, telling you what you can and can't do."

So is Siddique still the "Angry Young Muslim" portrayed by prosecutors? He had very little fury yesterday. Yes, he is angry at being locked up. And he remains animated about Britain's foreign policy. But Siddique and his brother have no problem with Britain pursuing an anti-terrorism strategy. Would Siddique help the police if they asked him? "Of course," he says quietly and confidently. "That would just be common courtesy."