Abu Hamza al-Masri Conviction: An Important Step Forward in the UK's War on Terrorism

By Victor Comras

The conviction in British criminal court of radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri (aka Mustafa Kamel Mustafa), and his sentencing to 7 years in prison, stands out as an important landmark in the war on terrorism. Great Britain has long been a beacon of tolerance. It has provided safe-haven to those who espouse radical positions and preach radical ideas, however offensive or dangerous. This tolerance stands as an exemplary standard for all who value high principles of freedom of thought and expression. But, there is a line, and a critical distinction, between preaching radical or offensive ideas on the one hand, and inciting to violence and recruiting for terrorism on the other. The Abu Hamza al-Masri decision has helped to better delineate that line.

Back in July 2005, at the time of the London Bombing, I was critical of the UK�s failure to go after Hamzi and others responsible for the indoctrination and recruitment of naive, and often self-aggrieved Muslim youth and for turning them into a new generation of pseudo religious zealot/terrorists bent on causing death and destruction. Hamzi had used his religious authority to help convince these Muslim youth that killing �infidels� was their religious duty. And his Finsbury Park Mosque served as a principal meeting place, indoctrination hall and recruitment center for radical jihadi groups.
Hamzi al-Masri�s arrest and the subsequent delays in moving ahead with his trial appeared to me, and many others, at the time, as serving only to side-step US indictment and extradition proceedings against him. I wrote:

While our democratic societies must remain dedicated to protecting religious freedom and to respecting ethnic sensitivities and diversity, we should be able, by now, to make the distinction between fundamentalist religious proselytizing and teaching on the one hand, and recruitment for hatred, violence and terrorism on the other. We can no longer tolerate the preaching to violence by the likes of Abu Hamza al-Masri or Omar Bakri Mohammed..

Perhaps with the Hamzi-al Masri conviction the UK will turn a page and make it clear that it will no longer tolerate the kinds of activities that went on at Hamzi-al Masri�s Finsbury Park Mosque. Masri was convicted on 11 counts under the UK�s Terrorism Act of 2000,. Offences Against the Person Act of 1861, and Public Order Act of 1986. This included six of nine counts for soliciting-to-murder charges and two of four charges of �using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior with the intention of stirring up racial hatred�. He was also found guilty of being in the possession of terrorism material including a ten volume set "The Encyclopedia of the Afghani Jihad," which contains information "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." The �Encyclopedia� included instructions on how to make explosives. It also identified key international landmarks, such as Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower as potential terrorist targets.

British Chancellor Gordon Brown hailed the Jury�s decision and reiterated his call for new anti-terrorism legislation which would allow "no toleration for preachers of hate who call for violence, who call for murder, who abuse their citizenship.� But Britain�s House of Lords has balked at the new legislation claiming that it lacks necessary free speech and civil rights protections. Like the United States, Great Britain, also, is struggling with the correct balance between civil rights and security protection.

Postscript: Shaykh Hamzi al Masri�s Supporters of Shareeah Website is still up and running with the same soliciations and inflamitory messages as before Hamzi al Masri�s arrest and incarceration. Also, British authorities have indicated that they would be willing to re-schedule hearings on the US request for Hamzi al Masri�s extradition once he has served his seven year sentence in British prisons. The United States Department of Justice said the US "stands ready to resume the extradition proceedings against Abu Hamza when British law allows." The US s indictment against Hamza alleges that he provided a satellite phone and funding to the group responsible to the kidnapping of 16 Western tourists in Yemen in December 1998, in which four lost their lives. Two of the indictment counts also concern claims Abu Hamza tried to set up a terror training camp in Oregon between 1999 and 2000.

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