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Captain Hook to appeal citizenship ruling
A radical Muslim cleric, who applauded the September 11 attacks and was banned from preaching at a London Mosque, is set to begin an appeal today against a ruling stripping him of his British citizenship.Abu Hamza al-Masri became the first person to have his British citizenship revoked last April after new measures were brought in to deport immigrants whose words or actions are deemed to "seriously prejudice" British interests. Britain said Egyptian-born Masri would launch his appeal against the government's decision at London's Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) on Monday when the chairman of the tribunal would set a date for a full hearing. "The chairman may lay out things like what evidence is admissible and how much of it will be in secret," a SIAC spokeswoman said. Masri, who holds a British passport through marriage to a British woman, has become a hate figure for tabloid newspapers because of his radical views, which include applauding the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The cleric, who is missing an eye and has a hook in place of his right hand after being wounded fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, was banned from preaching at Finsbury Park Mosque in north London after police raided it in January 2003 as part of a wider-anti-terrorism operation. He has continued to preach on the road outside. In court documents relating to foreign nationals held without charge in the U.K under emergency anti-terror laws, Britain accuses Masri of using his spiritual position to recruit young Muslims for "extremist causes overseas". "Abu Hamza has acted as a focal point for extreme Islamist groupings, networks and individuals in the U.K, drawing together individuals whose antecedents lie in different national agendas and directing attention on shared agendas such as Chechnya and Afghanistan," the documents say. Masri -- nicknamed Dr Hook by the tabloid press -- is not expected to appear at Monday's hearing. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-04-26 |
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