UK hails Hamza terror verdict
Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May has welcomed the conviction of radical cleric Abu Hamza on terrorism charges.
The north London preacher, who was tried under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, could face life in prison after a federal court in New York found him guilty of supporting terrorist organisations, including aiding the taking of hostages in Yemen and seeking to set up an al Qaida training camp in the US.
Mrs May said: “I am pleased that Abu Hamza has finally faced justice. He used every opportunity, over many years, to frustrate and delay the extradition process.
“His conviction was facilitated by this government’s tireless work to successfully remove him from the UK to face trial in October 2012.”
The Egyptian-born cleric led the Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s, reportedly attended by both September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe bomber Richard Reid, though Hamza denied ever having met them.
He later spread violent messages there following the attacks of September 11 2001.
The 56-year-old preacher was jailed in the UK for seven years for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred in 2006 and first faced an extradition request from the Americans in 2004.
After a protracted legal battle he was extradited to the US in October 2012.
Hamza will be sentenced on September 8, three days before the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Former home secretary David Blunkett said Hamza’s conviction justified the lengthy efforts made to extradite him from the UK.
He said: “This has been a very long journey to obtain justice, and to ensure that someone who has been so adept at avoiding the just penalty for his extensive activities is at last being brought to book.
“The verdict justifies the extensive measures over many years to ensure through his extradition that he should pay for the misery he brought to others.”
Three Britons and an Australian were killed in 1998 in Yemen when they were among 16 tourists seized by armed terrorists and taken hostage.
Following Hamza’s conviction Laurence Whitehouse, who was among the hostages and whose wife, Margaret, was one of the Britons shot dead, spoke of his relief at the court’s decision.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “This has taken a long time, even though there was evidence of his involvement early on. We could have had less trouble and strife in the world if effective action had been taken against him earlier.”
Another of the hostages, Eric Firkins, 70, told the Telegraph: “The worst thing, coming back from Yemen was finding it had all been organised in north London. For years I saw him on the television every day, a free man who was still spouting hatred. Now I can parcel it up.”
