The curious thing is that Scotland Yard started its own investigation into the kidnapping of 16 western tourists in the Yemen, including three Britons who were killed, — one of the three main charges Hamza faced in New York this week — at the same time as the American FBI. Scotland Yard anti-terrorist branch officers had got a plane to Yemen within two days of the attack on 29 December That Scotland Yard investigation concluded that there was a link between Yemen kidnapping and a planned bombing campaign of western targets by a six-strong group arrested in Aden called "the supporters of Sharia".
Hamza appeared on British television and admitted he was in contact with the Yemen kidnappers and that one of the suspects was possibly his stepson, but denied any criminal involvement himself. The high court in London heard in that an undated Metropolitan police report concluded in that Hamza should not be prosecuted for any involvement in the Yemen hostage taking offences despite the deaths of three Britons.
There was only one British link to the two other major charges that Hamza was convicted of this week in New York — those of being involved in setting up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon and providing support to terrorists in Afghanistan. The defence claimed that he subjected to torture during this period and any reliance on his evidence would have been strong disputed as inadmissible.
Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri was extradited Friday from the UK to the US where he will face a number of terrorism charges, after the High Court in London rejected his last-ditch appeal to avoid deportation. The Egyptian-born Abu Hamza is accused by Washington of supporting al Qaeda, aiding a kidnapping in Yemen and plotting to open a training camp for militants in the United States. The year-old cleric, jailed in Britain for inciting followers to kill non-believers, also achieved notoriety for praising the Sept.
He was taken from a high-security prison in central England in a convoy guarded by large numbers of police to a U. Earlier, two London High Court judges dismissed his request to delay the proceedings in order to allow the cleric, who did not attend the hearing, to undergo a brain scan that his lawyers said would prove he was unfit to be extradited. Britain had vowed to extradite him as soon as possible after his appeal was rejected.
Hours later, he was on his way out of the country. Prosecutors say Abu Hamza supplied the ringleader with a satellite phone. Another family member of a victim was frustrated the legal proceedings had taken so long. In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had considered evidence related to the Yemen plot on "two separate occasions" but there said there was "simply insufficient evidence to allow a prosecution of those offences at the time".
Abu Hamza was also convicted of helping to set up a terrorist training camp in the US state of Oregon. His trial followed his extradition to the US in at the end of an eight-year legal battle. During his trial Abu Hamza was described as a "terrorist facilitator with a global reach". He had used his powerbase at the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London to encourage his followers to train and fight in the cause of jihad.
London's Metropolitan Police initially raided the mosque in but Abu Hamza escaped arrest, continuing to preach in the street outside. Commander Richard Walton, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command said there would be "great relief in the country that Abu Hamza has been convicted of such serious terrorist offences".
The Met said it had provided the FBI with "a high volume of exhibits and case papers and facilitated several interviews with witnesses and victims in the UK" during the investigation. But the prosecution portrayed him as a terrorism boss, recruiting and despatching young men on missions around the world. They said the calm figure who had appeared during the trial was a fraud. Abu Hamza: Violent jihadist. Profile: Abu Hamza. How Abu Hamza came to court in New York.
Image source, Reuters. During his trial Abu Hamza appeared without the distinctive hook he wore after losing his hands. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Nick Bryant looks back at the case against Abu Hamza.
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