UK - Radical cleric trial underway

UK – And the trial against a former cleric continues in London. Sheik Mohammad Abu Hamza al-Masri or Abu Hamza has been charged with incitement to violence, stirring up racial hatred and incitement to murder as well as terror related offences,specifically being in possession of an 11-volume “terror traing manual”. Hamza has been much vilified in the British tabloid media and has been sought by the United States with, so far unproved, connection to the events of 9/11. There are however tenuous links; several terror suspects currently held by the US in Guantanamo Bay have attended mosques at which Hamza preached. And Zacarias Moussaoui, the so called 19th hijacker, currently involved in an ongoing trial in the US, is said to have met the radical cleric at the Finsbury Park mosque in London. And several others who attended the same mosque remained in limbo for a long time before being dealt with by US authorities. Feroz_Abbasi, captured in Afghanistan in 2001, is said to have been ‘brainwashed’ by Hamza according to his mother Zumrati Juma. He was released without charge in January 2005 and returned to Britain. James Ujaama, also captured in Afghanistan, and accused of attempting to set up a terror traing camp in Oregon, was also said to have been radicalized by Hamza. He has since been convicted and sentenced after admitting to conspiring to help the Taliban [CNN]. He was sentenced to 2 years as well as a 3 year supervised release in 2003 [USDOJ]. And perhaps unconnected, but significant nonetheless, Abu Hamza’s son, Mohammed Mustafa Kamel, served 3 years for terror related activities in Yemen. He admitted to a court in February 1999 of having help set up an armed group to ‘commit sabotage in the Arab state of Yemen.’ He had denied other charges including possession of a hand grenade. In 2002 Kamel flew to the UK but has remained out of the public eye apart from a trial concerning ‘breaking and entering’ a property in London – the Finsbury Park mosque. In yesterdays opening statements, the jury was shown excerpts from videotapes and heard audio in which Hamza talks of the “evils of democracy” and described Britain as a “toilet”. The trial is expected to last 4 weeks.
[21:05 GMT 13/01/2006]