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| Radical cleric is told he will be expelled from english mosque |
| 2003-01-17 |
| The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who has made a series of inflammatory remarks about a war against the West since the 11 September atrocities, is facing expulsion from his mosque in north London. Abu Hamza, 45, who lost his hands and left eye fighting in Afghanistan, has been told he has until Monday before he is expelled by the Charity Commission from the Finsbury Park mosque. But he is vowing to keep preaching at the mosque until he is arrested. It is run by the North London Central Mosque Trust, of which Abu Hamza is an officer. He is accused of bypassing the trustees, in effect taking over the mosque and using it for political ends in breach of charity rules. The Charity Commission, which regulates charities, has sent him a Provisional Removal Order telling him he must leave the mosque. Abu Hamza said that if the Archbishop of Canterbury had a right to discuss war on Iraq, he should be able to comment on the so-called war on terror. He said his legal team would appeal against the expulsion. The commission said Abu Hamza's sermons were of "such an extreme and political nature" that they conflicted with the trust's charitable status. It also said the cleric's association with the mosque was damaging the reputation of the charity running it. About dammed time they kicked him out. Yemen still wants him for his alleged links to a group of British men accused of a bomb plot in Aden. One of the suspects was his son, Muhammad Kamil Mustapha. Why don't you just extradite him and put a end to his trouble making? |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 I may take heat for this, but I think the British are on the right track on this. As long as this dweeb doesn't step over the line (and he may have already) the Brits would rather let him rant in plain sight, than in hiding. This is one reason why I think going into Afghanistan after OBL may have been a mistake. Should've kept him in sight, and then pulled one of those hellfire-predator things like in Yemen. (That was sure lovely wasn't it? Hooray CIA!) |
| Posted by: Rw 2003-01-18 06:48:24 |
| #4 Give Hamza some credit, maybe he was attempting to send a letter bomb to Russia when he lost some pieces & parts. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2003-01-18 05:10:36 |
| #3 So not only is he lacking a hand and an eye, but he has feet of clay as well... |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-01-17 18:34:37 |
| #2 Via Occam's Toothbrush, Hamza did not lose his hand and eye in Afghanistan while fighting the Soviets. An interview on BBC's Newsnight apparently (though not in the online story) shows photos taken of him in Pakistan in 1993 with hand and eye intact; long after the Soviets pulled out of Kabul: "Hamza, an engineer originally from Syria, may or may not have been in that war but he certainly didn't lose his hand and eye in it. His injuries are possibly attributable to some other event: a bomb-making gone wrong?" |
| Posted by: seafarious 2003-01-17 16:42:43 |
| #1 I do not know why the Brits give these guys such a forum to rant on and on. Are they intimidated by these well-financed guys (re: "legal team")or what? What are all theise MI-guys assigned to? Ar they waiting for a twin-towers-type job to act? After all, they were pretty aggressive with the Provos. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-01-17 15:35:36 |