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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. Abu Hamza could face a life term when sentenced in September. He is to appeal his conviction by a New York court.
The court heard he aided the kidnappers of 16 tourists in Yemen in 1998. His trial heard he aided the kidnappers of 16 tourists in Yemen in 1998 and tried to build a terror training camp.
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".
AnalysisAnalysis
By Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs 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. Why did Abu Hamza's extradition take so long?
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. Firstly, judges were dealing with an unprecedented situation: multiple extradition requests from the US for a group of men who were accused of terrorism offences while they were based in the UK.
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. The cases involved unique circumstances and complex questions which, taken together, had never been put before our courts. These included whether controversial conditions in some maximum security American jails were humane.
He styled himself "Sheikh" but this former nightclub worker lacked the religious knowledge and authority of the Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada. So it was inevitable that there would be appeals, as our law allows, all the way to Europe: that is what happens in difficult cases.
For years before his arrest in 2004 the security services failed to take him seriously, a mistake they later came to regret. The courts have now answered those questions - and that means future extraditions will be more speedy.
Secondly, the cleric's extradition was halted because after years of doing nothing, the UK's authorities suddenly decided in 2006 that they wanted to prosecute after all. The US was told to get to the back of the queue and wait until the end of that British trial. So, in all, Abu Hamza's case was as exceptional as you can get.
'Religious war''Religious war'
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.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.