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Abu Hamza: Cameron calls for faster extradition process Abu Hamza: Cameron calls for faster extradition process
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron has said more could be done to speed up the UK's extradition process, after Abu Hamza al-Masri was found guilty of supporting terrorism.David Cameron has said more could be done to speed up the UK's extradition process, after Abu Hamza al-Masri was found guilty of supporting terrorism.
The prime minister said while it took 10 years to remove the radical Muslim cleric from the UK, justice was done.The prime minister said while it took 10 years to remove the radical Muslim cleric from the UK, justice was done.
Home Secretary Theresa May hailed the verdict at a New York court, which could see Abu Hamza face a life term in prison when sentenced on September 9.Home Secretary Theresa May hailed the verdict at a New York court, which could see Abu Hamza face a life term in prison when sentenced on September 9.
The court heard he aided the kidnappers of 16 tourists in Yemen in 1998.The court heard he aided the kidnappers of 16 tourists in Yemen in 1998.
The 56-year-old was also accused of attempting to build a terror training camp in Oregon in the north-western US.The 56-year-old was also accused of attempting to build a terror training camp in Oregon in the north-western US.
Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought it was "good that he has faced justice", but that the government must "reflect on whether we can extradite faster".
Abu Hamza was extradited from the UK, where he preached at the Finsbury Park mosque, after having been jailed for seven years for inciting murder and racial hatred.
Mr Cameron said: "Speeding up extradition and speeding up deportation; I think we need to look at the avenues of appeal there are and make sure these are gone through more quickly, and we've made changes there.
"Obviously, we also need to look, as I've said many times, at the European Convention on Human Rights and the position we have got to get into in which if someone threatens our country, we should be able to deport them if they have no right to be here."
AnalysisAnalysis
By Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondentBy Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent
The conviction of Abu Hamza in New York marks the end of a 16-year long global saga. I first heard his name in Yemen in 1998 while covering the violent kidnapping of 16 western tourists by a gang of jihadists. Three Britons and an Australian died when Yemeni forces rescued the hostages.The conviction of Abu Hamza in New York marks the end of a 16-year long global saga. I first heard his name in Yemen in 1998 while covering the violent kidnapping of 16 western tourists by a gang of jihadists. Three Britons and an Australian died when Yemeni forces rescued the hostages.
Working with the late Times journalist Danny McGrory, we discovered that the kidnappers had been in contact with an extremist imam in a London mosque - Abu Hamza in Finsbury Park. Later it transpired that his son, stepson and several other British radicals had been arrested days earlier in Yemen and Abu Hamza was hoping to trade the western hostages for their release.Working with the late Times journalist Danny McGrory, we discovered that the kidnappers had been in contact with an extremist imam in a London mosque - Abu Hamza in Finsbury Park. Later it transpired that his son, stepson and several other British radicals had been arrested days earlier in Yemen and Abu Hamza was hoping to trade the western hostages for their release.
Incredibly, Abu Hamza then remained free to preach hatred and intolerance for years afterwards, before being ousted from the mosque and continuing his sermons in the street in front of a small but fanatical group of followers.Incredibly, Abu Hamza then remained free to preach hatred and intolerance for years afterwards, before being ousted from the mosque and continuing his sermons in the street in front of a small but fanatical group of followers.
He styled himself "Sheikh" but this former nightclub worker lacked the religious knowledge and authority of the Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada.He styled himself "Sheikh" but this former nightclub worker lacked the religious knowledge and authority of the Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada.
For years before his arrest in 2004 the security services failed to take him seriously, a mistake they later came to regret.For years before his arrest in 2004 the security services failed to take him seriously, a mistake they later came to regret.
In New York the jury of eight men and four women reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all 11 terror charges.
Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said Abu Hamza "was not just a preacher of faith, but a trainer of terrorists".
Reacting to the verdict, Mrs May said she was pleased that Abu Hamza had "finally faced justice".
"He used every opportunity, over many years, to frustrate and delay the extradition process," she said.
'Religious war''Religious war'
Abu Hamza was arrested in May 2004 on a US arrest warrant. Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought it was "good that he has faced justice", but that the government must "reflect on whether we can extradite faster".
The 11 charges against him included allegations that he arranged satellite communications for a group of kidnappers in Yemen who carried out a deadly attack in which four hostages were killed. Abu Hamza was extradited from the UK, where he preached at the Finsbury Park mosque, after having been jailed for seven years for inciting murder and racial hatred.
He was eventually also found guilty of conspiring in 1999-2000 to establish an al-Qaeda training camp in Bly, Oregon, among other acts.
He was convicted of various crimes including hostage taking, conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, and abetting religious war in Afghanistan.
Abu Hamza's defence team said he would appeal, claiming that too much weight had been given to comments he had made on unrelated matters.
His lawyer, Joshua Dratel, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Abu Hamza expressed himself "in a manner that was open, very controversial, very honest, very objectionable in many respects with many people's points of view".
Mr Dratel said those people were entitled to their points of view just as Abu Hamza was to his.
"What that doesn't do is make him a criminal," he added.
"And unfortunately, we think that the tenor of his remarks and the way that they were admitted in this case in sort of trigger points for United States, particularly a New York jury, 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda, all of that created an atmosphere in which the evidence was not evaluated."
'Helped MI5'
Born Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, Abu Hamza al-Masri came to Britain from Egypt in 1979. Before gaining notoriety as an Islamist, he had worked at a strip club in London's Soho.
He told the court he lost an eye and both his hands - not, as he had previously claimed, from fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan - but during an accident in Pakistan when liquid explosives intended for use in a road construction project went off by mistake.
It was after this that he began wearing a hook in place of his hands which, along with his missing eye, made him a distinctive figure among British Islamists.
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said he was ousted from Finsbury Park mosque where he had been an "extremist imam" but was allowed to continue preaching.
His defence claimed in the trial that he had assisted MI5 "to keep the streets of London safe".
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.