Muslim cleric faces extradition to US on terror charges
The US authorities labelled him "a freelance consultant to terrorism groups worldwide".
The radical cleric appeared in court in London to face a warrant for his extradition to America where he could be jailed for up to 100 years for charges including conspiring to set up terrorist training camps in Oregon and Afghanistan.
Hamza was accused of playing a leading role in a hostage-taking incident in Yemen in 1998 in which four hostages including three Britons were killed.
Hostage-taking is a crime for which in theory he could face the death penalty if convicted under US law.
But Downing Street confirmed that Hamza could not be extradited to face execution abroad under current British rules for extradition and any such sentence, if imposed, would not be carried out.
The hook-handed former Finsbury Park Mosque preacher was arrested by Scotland Yard officers yesterday morning in a pre-dawn raid at his home.
Known for his inflammatory anti-American and extreme Islamist views post September 11, Hamza was alleged to be centrally involved in al-Qaida activities around the world since 1998. New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly described Hamza as the "real deal. Think of him as a freelance consultant to terrorism groups worldwide."
The 46-year-old cleric looked sullen and weary as a catalogue of accusations were made against him at high-security Belmarsh Magistrate Court in south east London. They included that he had links with high-ranking members of the Taliban and al-Qaida network.
Hamza bowed his head repeatedly and appeared disinterested at times during the hearing.
After he sat down in the dock between two guards he was asked by the clerk of the court whether he would consent to being returned to America.
He shrugged his shoulders and gave a slight laugh and wry smile before mumbling: "I don't really think I want to know."
The clerk read out a total of nine charges.
Hugo Keith, prosecuting on behalf of the US authorities, explained that the 11 counts on an indictment from a federal grand jury in New York equated to nine offences under English law.
He said the first two of the nine counts related to a kidnapping incident in Yemen in 1998.
Hamza's date of birth was given in court as April 15, 1958.
His name was given on the charge sheet as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, and it also detailed a list of four aliases Abu Hamza, Abu Hamza Al-Masri, Mustafa Kamel and Mustafa Mostafa Kamel Mostafa.
Mr Keith said he was born in Alexandria in Egypt and came to England in 1979.
He received British citizenship in April 1986, which was revoked on April 4, 2003, against which he was appealing.
Mr Keith said the first two of the nine charges related to a conspiracy in which 16 tourists were take hostage in Yemen in 1998, four of whom died. He said Hamza had provided a satellite phone to the group involved.
He said the day after the kidnapping, Hamza had put another ÂŁ500 worth of credit on the phone. Mr Keith said charges three to seven on the list related to the setting up of Jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon.
He said Hamza had described Jihad as "letting blood fly for the good of Allah". The final two charges, eight and nine, related to the sending of an individual to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban. Mr Keith said the prosecution would object to bail being granted on the grounds that Hamza was likely to abscond, intimidate witnesses, or commit further offences if he were freed.
Sheikh Abu Hamza was born Mustafa Kamel Mustafa in Alexandria, Egypt, to middle-class parents.
In 1981, while studying in Brighton and working as a bouncer in London's West End, he met and married an English woman, Valerie Fleming, and was granted his British citizenship.
The couple divorced a number of years later and Hamza travelled to Afghanistan to fight a 'jihad' against the Soviet Union's occupation.
On returning to Britain, Hamza began preaching at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, where his radical anti-Western sermons attracted extremist Muslims.
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