Abu Hamza al-Masri

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Abu Hamza al-Masri
An early picture of Abu Hamza al-Masri -- prior to losing an eye to an explosion.
Born	April 15, 1958 (1958-04-15) (age 51) Alexandria, Egypt
Residence	Belmarsh Prison, London, UK

Abu Hamza al-Masri (أبو حمزة المصري Abū Ḥamzah al-Maṣriy) (15 April 1958) is an extremist Sunni Muslim who lives in the United Kingdom and is known for his preaching against non-Muslims.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Preaching 3 Extradition 4 Arrest and conviction under the Terrorism Act 2000 5 Quotations 6 Profile 7 See also 8 External links 9 References

[edit] Early life

Abu Hamza was born Mustafa Kamel Mustafa in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1958. He is the son of a middle class army officer. In 1979, he entered the UK on a student visa.^[1] He studied civil engineering at Brighton Polytechnic.^[2]

On May 16, 1980, he married Valerie Traverso (now Fleming), a Catholic convert to Islam,^[3] and had a son, Mohammed Mustafa Kamel. He acquired British citizenship following three years of marriage. In 1984, he divorced his wife, because she had failed to divorce her previous husband until 1982. The marriage was void. It is not known whether Abu Hamza was aware of this; if he was, his British citizenship could be invalidated.

In 1984, he married Nadjet, with whom he has seven children.^[4]

Following his radicalisation, he took their three-year-old son Mohammed to Egypt, saying his father was ill. The child did not see his mother again until his father was convicted in Yemen for taking part in a bombing campaign (Mohammed was sentenced to three years in prison). His stepson, Mohsin Ghalain, was also arrested in connection with the charges.

In the early 1990s, he lived in Bosnia, with an identity document under the name of Adam Eaman, where he fought in the Arab mujahidin against the Serbs and Croats.^[5][6]

Abu Hamza lost both his hands and the use of his left eye, allegedly as a result of wounds sustained in Afghanistan during a de-mining project around 1993.^[7] He now uses a distinctive hook as his right hand. He claims to have lost his hands and eye as the result of helping clear land mines in Afghanistan left behind by the Soviet Union.^[8]

[edit] Preaching

Abu Hamza, formerly the imam of North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, North London, runs "Supporters of Sharia", a group dedicated to the rule of Islamic law. In 2003, he addressed a rally in central London called by the radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, where members spoke of their support for al-Qaeda.

On 4 February 2003 (after being suspended since April 2002) Abu Hamza was dismissed from his position at the Finsbury Park mosque by the Charity Commission, the statutory organisation that regulates charities (and hence most places of worship) in England and Wales. After his ejection from the mosque, he preached outside the gates until he was imprisoned on remand.^[9]

Abu Hamza has publicly expressed support for al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and against the UK government's involvement in the War in Iraq. He wrote a paper entitled El Ansar ( The Victor ) in which he expressed support for the actions of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in Algeria.^[7]

[edit] Extradition

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The Yemeni authorities have requested his arrest and extradition, claiming he is linked to plots to bomb targets there, but the British authorities have not complied claiming he will not get a fair trial.

Abu Hamza was naturalised as a British citizen when he married Valerie Traverso, who was a British citizen by birth. However, it appears that this marriage was a bigamous one as Traverso was still married to her previous husband at the time. When this was discovered, the Home Office began the procedure to remove his British citizenship.

When Abu Hamza applied for legal aid to oppose this procedure, his application was rejected. His legal team has prolonged the fight by seeking a judicial review, and he could still appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Lords, which could take years to come to a decision. Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said, "This man has alienated the public from Muslims with his vile rants. British Muslims are growing impatient that he is still able to tarnish them with these remarks. He is not welcome at any mosque in the country and we have nothing to do with him."

On 27 May 2004, Abu Hamza was detained by British authorities and is to appear before magistrates in the start of a process to extradite him to the United States, where he has been named in an indictment of participating with Earnest James Ujaama in his attempt to establish a terrorist training camp in late 1999 and early 2000 near Bly, Oregon, and providing aid to al-Qaeda.

However, as a member state of the European Union, the United Kingdom is party to an agreement whereby extradition must be refused to any country which has the death penalty and where the suspect is to be tried in a capital case.^[10] This will not prevent his extradition to the United States, but it will prevent any court from imposing a sentence of death, should he be found guilty. The courts of Britain have recently permitted his extradition to the US as of November 15.

[edit] Arrest and conviction under the Terrorism Act 2000

On 26 August 2004, Abu Hamza was arrested by British police under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which covers the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. He was released on 31 August 2004.^[11] Almost two months later on 19 October 2004, he was charged with 16 crimes under the provisions of various British statutes, including encouraging the murder of non-Muslims, and intent to stir up racial hatred.^{[citation needed]} The trial commenced on 5 July 2005 but was adjourned, and resumed on 9 January 2006. On 7 February 2006 he was found guilty on eleven charges and not guilty on four.^[12]

The charges related to his possession of the Encyclopedia of Afghan Jihad, a Al Qaeda Handbook and to propaganda materials produced by Abu Hamza.^{[citation needed]} He was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment to run concurrently for eight counts and 21 months for the others, giving a total of 57 years and 11 months. He has already been in jail since May 2004. In sentencing, Mr Justice Hughes said Abu Hamza had "helped to create an atmosphere in which to kill has become regarded by some as not only a legitimate course but a moral and religious duty in pursuit of perceived justice".^{[citation needed]} Abu Hamza is currently being held in Belmarsh Prison.^{[citation needed]}

The verdict came soon after the acquittal of British National Party member Nick Griffin on two charges under the same provisions of the Public Order Act and with a possible retrial on two more where the jury failed to reach a verdict. This has led to comparisons between the two cases within the broader debate of free speech in the UK.^[13][14]

On 18 January Lord Justice Hughes made the order for the recovery of the full costs of the defence of the race-hate charges, estimated in excess of 1 million pounds. This judgement was based on his view that "the story I have been told today (by Abu Hamza) is simply not true" that he had no share in a £220,000 house in Greenford, west London. Abu Hamza had claimed it belonged to his sister. The court also found that Abu Hamza was contributing £9000 a year for private education for his children.^[15]

[edit] Quotations

Abu Hamza claims that the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a sign from God:

"These missions would increase the number of satellites for military purposes. It would increase the slavery of governance of other countries by America. It is a punishment from God. Muslims see it that way. It is a trinity of evil because it carried Americans, an Israeli and a Hindu, a trinity of evil against Islam. The fact that the motor of the craft fell on Palestine [a town in Texas] – all these are messages from God. It is a strong message, for the Israeli, to be taken up there to space and he spoke about the Holocaust, to try to make religious advancement from it and gain some moral high ground, hence you have seen this message over Palestine."

"Killing of the kafir (non-believer) for any reason you can say it is OK, even if there is no reason for it." He called on his followers to poison, ambush and kill non-believers and added: "You must have a stand with your heart, with your tongue, with your money, with your hand, with your sword, with your Kalashnikov. Don't ask shall I do this, just do it."^[16]

Of licensors for alcohol sellers he said: "Make sure that the person who gave him the licence for that wine shop doesn't exist any more on the Earth. Finish him up. Give him dawa (inviting non-Muslims to accept the truth of Islam). If he doesn't respect dawa, kill him."^[17]

He suggested that people coined the term suicide attack to put others off it. "It is not called suicide - this is called shahada, martyring, because if the only way to hurt the enemies of Islam except by taking your life for that, then it is allowed," adding: "The person who hinders Allah's rule, this man must be eliminated".

In January 2006 while on trial, he accused the Jewish people of being "blasphemous, treacherous and dirty" and explained that this was "why Hitler was sent into the world".^[18] He also called for "a world dominated by a caliph, sitting in the White House".^[16] Whilst under cross-examination Hamza claimed the Jews control the Foreign Office, the media and the money supply in Britain and the USA.^[19]

[edit] Profile

Abu Hamza al-Masri has become something of a hate figure in the tabloids. He was featured in the Daily Mail and The Sun which often called for his deportation, up to his eventual conviction. He was nicknamed "The Hook" and "Captain Hook" by some British tabloid newspapers because of the hook on his right hand. He apparently enjoys provoking outrage and has readily posed for photographs holding his "hook" right hand to his eye.

Abu Hamza was briefly interviewed by John Safran in the comedy documentary John Safran Vs God regarding Fatwas.

On 28 May 2009, three of his sons were jailed at Southwark Crown Court for a two-year fraud involving stolen cars. Hamza Kamel, aged 22 and Mohamed Mostafa, aged 27 (both from Acton, West London) ran the scam operation with Abu Hamza's stepson Mohssin Ghailam, aged 28. Four other men were jailed on related charges.^[20]

[edit] See also

• Mohammed Haydar Zammar
• Encyclopedia of Afghan Jihad
• Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt
• Abu Izzadeen
• Anjem Choudary
• Abu Uzair
• Hassan Butt
• Andrew Ibrahim
• Sulayman Keeler
• Khalid Kelly
• Omar Bakri Muhammad

Abu Hamza was also mentioned in the fictional movie The Kingdom.

[edit] External links

• BBC Abu Hamza profile
• Old Hamza organisation site
• Official site

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME	al-Masri, Abu Hamza
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	1958-4-15
PLACE OF BIRTH	Egypt - Alexandria
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH