Appeals end for UK extremist

Associated Press

LONDON

He’s reviled as the one-eyed, hook-handed terror suspect so troublesome that even Queen Elizabeth II reportedly felt moved to wonder why he remained at liberty despite his fiery call for a jihad, or holy war.

Britain is now set to extradite its most recognizable extremist — Mustafa Kamal Mustafa, who is better known as Abu Hamza al-Masri — to the United States, deporting him to face terrorism charges, including reportedly helping set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon.

“This is a person who has been a blight on this country for more than a decade,” said Robin Simcox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based foreign-affairs think tank. “I don’t think there will be many people shedding a tear.”

It’s been a long time coming: A European court decision Monday cleared the way for his extradition and that of four other terror suspects after an eight-year legal battle. He could be deported within weeks.

Britain’s tabloid newspapers ran unflattering photos of the familiar, gray-bearded cleric and expressed cheerful satisfaction Tuesday that the preacher known for his anti-Western sermons might be sent away to face the consequences for his virulent sermons. The Sun tabloid headlined “Off: The Hook. Hate-filled Hamza can be deported to the United States.” The Daily Express said, “Evil Hamza: At last we can kick him out.”

For years, the Egyptian-born former nightclub bouncer, who claimed he lost his eye and hands fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, used his base in north London’s Finsbury Park Mosque to persuade a young congregation to take up the cause of holy war. The mosque once was attended by both Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and “shoe bomber” Richard Reid. A senior UK terrorism official described the mosque as a “honeypot for extremists.”

After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the cleric declared that, “many people will be happy, jumping up and down at this moment.”

When authorities raided the mosque, he simply moved outside, conducting his sermons on the street, castigating Britain and calling for holy war.

American officials allege that the cleric conspired to establish a training camp in Bly, Ore., to give his followers combat and weapons training for violent jihad in Afghanistan. They also say he helped extremists who kidnapped 16 foreign tourists, including two Americans, in Yemen in 1998. Three British tourists and one Australian visitor were killed in a shootout between Yemeni security forces and the captors.