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Bin Laden of the U.K..Hook hand Hamza..Arrested


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The hate-filled Muslim cleric appeared in court hours after armed cops arrested him yesterday in a pre-dawn raid at his home in Shepherd’s Bush, West London.

 

He was flanked in the dock by security guards and remanded in custody for seven days.

 

At the same time the top law officer in the US — which has applied for his extradition — spelled out the allegations he faces.

 

Attorney General John Ashcroft said they included:

 

HELPING to plot a 1998 terrorist attack in Yemen which left three British tourists dead, FUNDING an al-Qaeda terror training camp in Afghanistan, and ORGANISING a second terror camp in the US to train extremists to fight in Afghanistan.

 

Egyptian-born Hamza, branded the Bin Laden of Britain, was also accused of financing bombings, hostage-taking and suicide attacks — and of conspiracy to provide “goods and services” to the Taliban.

 

 

 

Accusations ... first of sheets listing charges against Hamza

 

 

 

US officials said that, if convicted, the charges facing Hamza carried the death penalty as the “statutory maximum” sentence.

 

But under existing treaty agreements the one-eyed firebrand would not be executed if extradited from Britain.

 

He would instead face life behind bars if found guilty — with a possible 100-year term.

 

Mr Ashcroft said at a US news conference: “Hamza is the Imam of what was known as the Finsbury Park Mosque in London.

 

“He is being held on terrorism charges that were filed in the United States. We are actively seeking his extradition from Great Britain to face justice in our courts on these serious charges.”

 

The indictment charting the US case against Hamza, 46, runs to 18 pages and was drawn up by a grand jury.

 

They accused him of plotting the Yemen hostage seizure in order to blackmail the country’s government.

 

Sixteen western tourists were snatched by terrorists in 1998.

 

Four died when their captors used them as shields during a rescue bid by soldiers. Three were British, the other Australian.

 

Mr Ashcroft claimed Hamza had been in touch with the leader of the thugs via a satellite phone he provided.

 

Hamza is also accused of providing “material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organisation — to wit, a terrorist organisation known as al-Qaeda and led by Osama Bin Laden”.

 

Five days before Bin Laden’s September 11 attacks on the US, Hamza is accused of giving a henchman £6,000 to finance a computer laboratory for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

It was also alleged that he introduced one plotter to another so that safe houses could be arranged in Pakistan together with safe travel to Afghanistan.

 

Mr Ashcroft added: “Hamza is also charged with conspiracy to provide and conceal material support to terrorists.

 

“These charges are related to Hamza’s alleged attempts in late 1999 and early 2000 to set up a training camp for violent Jihad in Bly, Oregon, here in the US.”

 

The Attorney General also told how Hamza tried to aid Afghanistan’s toppled Taliban regime by posting internet messages urging his followers to donate money, goods and services to them.

 

In South East London, Hamza stood defiantly behind a glass-fronted dock in maximum security Belmarsh Magistrates Court yesterday as the charges were read out.

 

Minutes before the two-hour hearing, cops stepped in to quell a furious row between Hamza’s supporters and a group of Right-wing extremists in the public gallery.

 

Hamza, wearing a three-quarter length khaki raincoat, a cream and grey hat and baggy three-quarter-length trousers, laughed in the dock when asked if he wished to return voluntarily to America.

 

He replied softly: “I don’t think I really want to.” Prosecuting barrister Hugo Keith told the court: “The evidence shows he has engaged in a substantial pattern of terrorist activity since 1998.

 

“He is known as a supporter and facilitator of terrorism. He has had contact with and provided support to terrorist groups.

 

“He has promoted violence and anti-western sentiment by preaching. He has had contact with high-ranking terrorists in the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

 

“He has admitted having been in contact with terrorist groups including Egyptian Islamic Jihad. He has provided a safe haven for terrorists at Finsbury Park mosque.”

 

The transatlantic link-up which led to Hamza’s arrest was described as a “shining example” of international co-operation.

 

New York’s top cop, commissioner Ray Kelly, said: “The arrest of Abu Hamza is a major development in the fight against global terror. He is the real deal. Think of him as a freelance consultant to terrorist groups worldwide.

 

“Thanks to the outstanding work of New York city detectives and FBI special agents in the joint terrorist task force, we now have the evidence to make the case against him.”

 

It is believed Hamza’s extradition, sought under the 2003 Extradition Act, could be completed before the end of the year.

 

Home Secretary David Blunkett had already launched proceedings to strip him of British citizenship so he could be expelled.

 

But the hearing had been adjourned until next January following Hamza’s failure to supply evidence to support his appeal.

 

His continued presence in the country costs the taxpayer an estimated £1million a year.

 

Mr Blunkett last night said: “I do believe it would be better if this man was not in our country.”

 

 

 

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