Why Abu Hamza must go

The full details of the Home Secretary's case to throw Abu Hamza out of Britain emerged today. The hook-handed Muslim cleric is appealing against David Blunkett's attempt to revoke his British citizenship.

Egyptian-born Hamza is accused on four grounds:

  • Supporting and advising terrorist groups including al Qaeda in Egypt, Yemen and Kashmir.
  • Actively supporting the jihad or "holy war" by fighting overseas and engaging in terrorist acts.
  • Using Finsbury Park mosque as a recruitment centre for terrorists.

However, proceedings have been put back due to arguments over legal aid and a full hearing will not start until January - 21 months after Hamza launched his appeal.

In a tense hearing over legal matters, judge Mr Justice Ouseley said the delays were "particularly regrettable". Hamza and his lawyer, Mudassar Arani, who were not present at the hearing, applied for legal aid, which was approved by the Legal Services Commission last week.

The Treasury must now consider the granting of aid, and if agreed, it will then go to the UN Sanctions Committee for final approval. The full hearing will then start on 10 January and is expected to last up to two weeks.

Meanwhile, new controversy surrounds Hamza today with the publication of secret tapes calling for suicide bombers to launch a holy war in Britain.

In a series of recordings sent to his most dedicated followers, Hamza encourages bombers to become martyrs "on your own doorstep".

The tapes were obtained by investigative author Neil Doyle and form the basis of his book Terror Tracker.

Though Mr Blunkett considers the cleric to be a serious threat to national security, police have never had enough evidence to support his deportation.

His publ ic speeche s, delivered every Friday outside Finsbury Park mosque, are worded carefully to avoid committing a criminal offence by calling for direct terrorist acts. The tapes, however, which are sent to people who have attended meetings or contacted Hamza via the internet, are uncensored.

Recorded between 2000 and 2002, they use a number of Islamic phrases such as shaheed (meaning martyr) and jihad. One message says: "Our immediate duty now is to correct our own homeland. You don't have to travel thousands of miles to become a shaheed - you can be shaheed right on your own doorstep. This is the best jihad."

Hamza calls for all Israelis aged over 15 to be killed and accuses George Bush and Tony Blair of killing millions of children.

He mocks the September 11 attacks and says Islam must strive for world domination. He also boasts he does not have papers to be in Britain, and says that followers should forge passports. Labour

MP Andrew Dismore, who has campaigned for Hamza to be deported, said: "These tapes... show he is a racist, anti-semitic and a supporter of terrorism."

Hamza came to Britain as a student and obtained UK citizenship when he married a British woman he has since divorced. He was a resident preacher at Finsbury Park mosque until it was shut down after a police raid in January last year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in