03/06/2004

Abu Hamza is denied bail

Controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been denied bail at Belmarsh Magistrates Court today.

Abu Hamza was arrested on May 27 on an extradition warrant served by the US government. He is accused of acting as an intermediary for a terror group which took 16 people hostage in Yemen in 1998. He is also accused of providing resources for Al Qaeda terrorists and attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon. The 47-year-old, who will challenge the extradition order, faces a total of 11 terror-related charges in the US.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed after Abu Hamza's arrest that police had submitted material that was being examined to see if charges would be brought in the UK against Hamza, but that the US extradition warrant, as it had been served first, would take precedence.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has stated that Egyptian-born Hamza, whose revoked British citizenship is subject to an appeal, should be returned to Yemen where he had previously served a jail term.

His citizenship, gained through marriage in 1981, was reviewed under legislation rushed through to allow the deportation of immigrants whose actions "seriously prejudice" British interests.

(gmcg)

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