Intelligence

Hamza will escape the death penalty

The Herald

BILLY BRIGGS May 28 2004
ABU Hamza, the controversial Muslim cleric, was behind bars last night as the United States sought to extradite him for allegedly supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The charges he faces carry the death penalty in the US, but Downing Street said that Mr Hamza could not be extradited to face execution abroad under current UK rules for extradition and any such sentence, if imposed, would not be carried out.

Mr Hamza, 46, preached at Finsbury Park mosque in London. As the attention of America's global war on terror focused on the preacher, the US authorities labelled him "a freelance consultant to terrorism groups worldwide".
The cleric appeared at the magistrates court at Belmarsh high security prison in south east London to face a warrant for his extradition to America – where he could be jailed for up to 100 years. The charges include conspiring to set up terrorist training camps in Oregon and Afghanistan.
Mr Hamza was accused of playing a leading role in a hostage-taking incident in Yemen in 1998 in which four hostages – including three Britons – were killed.
Hostage-taking is a crime for which in theory he could face the death penalty if convicted under US law, but David Blunkett, the home secretary, told the ITV News Channel last night that the death penalty would not be put in place.
He said: "Of course it is a judicial process and I have got to be very careful not to interfere with that, but I think everyone who has been concerned about this man will want us to get it right."
Mr Hamza appeared in court as anti-terrorist detectives searched his home in Shepherds Bush, west London.
He gave a slight laugh and shrugged his shoulders when he was asked if he would consent to being extradited. "I don't really think I want to, no," he said.
Known for his inflammatory anti-American and extreme Islamist views post September 11, Mr Hamza was alleged to be centrally involved in al Qaeda's activities around the world since 1998. John Ashcroft, US attorney general, gave details of the charges at a press conference in New York.
He said Mr Hamza was charged with providing and concealing material support and resources to terrorists and a foreign terrorist organisation, specifically al Qaeda.
Other charges include conspiracy to take hostages and hostage-taking in connection with the Yemen incident. Ruth Williamson, 34, from Edinburgh, Dr Peter Rowe, 60, from Durham, and Margaret Whitehouse, 52, from Hook, Hants, died in the incident.
Mr Hamza is charged with attempting to set up a training camp for "violent Jihad" in Bly, Oregon, in 1999. He also allegedly attempted to set up a training camp in Afghanistan and supported the Taliban regime, Mr Ashcroft said.
Mr Hamza's arrest came as Abdulaziz al Muqrin, an al Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia, issued a battle plan yesterday for an urban guerrilla war against the Saudi royal family.
In South Africa, police said they foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot last month, and had arrested a number of "people who had evil intentions" five days before general elections on April 14.
In Perth, Australia, a British-born terror suspect wept in court yesterday, claiming he feared being killed if he did not carry out an al Qaeda-linked plan to bomb the Israeli embassy in Canberra. Jack Roche, 50, said he was afraid members of al Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah, a linked south-east Asian group, would kill him if he did not make the attack. It was never carried out.

History Of A Firebrand

Sheikh Abu Hamza was born Mustafa Kamel Mustafa in Alexandria, Egypt, to middle-class parents.

He came to the UK in the early 1980s with plans to study to become a civil engineer in Brighton.

In 1981, while studying in Brighton and working as a bouncer in the west end of London, he met and married an English woman, Valerie Fleming, and received his British citizenship.

The couple later divorced and Mr Hamza went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet occupation.

While there he lost his hands and one eye – while clearing Soviet landmines, he claims.

Back in the UK, Mr Hamza began preaching at the Finsbury Park mosque in London, where his radical anti-Western sermons attracted extremist Muslims.

In February 1999, he was linked to terrorists on trial in the Yemen accused of kidnapping Westerners. Yemen wants him extradited.

In April 2002, he was formally suspended from his mosque position over his inflammatory speeches.

On September 11, 2002 – the first anniversary of the Twin Towers attacks – he spoke at the mosque on A Towering Day in History.

In April 2003, David Blunkett announced new laws allowing citizenship to be removed from immigrants who "seriously prejudice" the UK's interests. Legal moves began immediately to strip Mr Hamza of his British citizenship and deport him to the Yemen.

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