Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Investigators probing the London terror bombings are focusing on an elusive British Muslim suspect who is connected to a previous plot to set up a terrorist training camp in rural southern Oregon, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. Officials told both NBC News and CNN Wednesday that Haroon Rashid Aswat, believed to be a mastermind of the London bombings, is the same British-born Muslim of Indian descent who scouted a Bly, Oregon ranch to set up a terror camp. These officials said Aswat, a Pakistani national being sought for questioning as a person of interest by British authorities,...

LONDON -- Neatly shorn and bespectacled, Britain's best-known Islamic radical appeared in court Tuesday, charged with encouraging the murder of Jews and other non-Muslims. The fiery cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri sat uncharacteristically silent in the dock at the Old Bailey as lawyers outlined legal arguments ahead of his jury trial. Tuesday had been set for the trial's beginning, but the first session was taken up with legal arguments, which are expected to continue all week. Court orders forbid any reporting of the arguments, which take place without a jury present. Wearing a blue smock with hair gray hair and beard...

LONDON, England (AP) -- Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Mazri has appeared in a London court on charges including encouraging the murder of Jews and other non-Muslims. Tuesday had been set for the start of Abu Hamza's trial, but the first session was taken up with legal arguments, which are expected to continue all week. Court orders forbid any reporting of the arguments, which take place without a jury present. Abu Hamza, wearing a blue smock and with neatly trimmed gray hair and beard, was surrounded by four guards as he stood in the dock at the Central Criminal Court....

BAGHDAD, July 4 (KUNA) - The US forces arrested last month an Al-Qaeda member in Mosul, north of Iraq, a statement for the Multi-National Forces said Monday. The US forces arrested Tunisian national, Emad Nasser Ahmad, known as Abu Hamza during a raid in Mosul, the statement added. According to the statement, Abu Hamza is responsible for bringing to Iraq Arab militants and sheltering over 100 suicide bombers to carry out their attacks in Mosul.

Banned in the UK: Abu Hamza al-Masri Quotes from Terror Tracker Neil Doyle is the author of Terror Tracker and runs his own website here. I've been aware of Neil's work for some time. Much of what he publishes on his website mirrors my own anti-terrorism posts. A new and updated paperback version of Terror Tracker is soon to be available in both the U.S. and U.K. In the U.S. you can order it at Amazon here. One important aspect of the book is that it reveals statements from a former imam at London's Finsburry Park Mosque, the radical hook-handed...

Bellevue firm tied to pro-Hamas Web siteBy Peter LewisSeattle Times staff reporter, April 23, 2005 A Bellevue company has helped support a Web site dedicated to advancing Hamas, an Islamic organization the U.S. government considers a terrorist group. The site features videos of Humvees blowing up and U.S. soldiers being killed. The site was down temporarily yesterday but was working again last evening. Content included a training video of the "Mujahideen Army" and a message to the American people that said in part they had "elected criminals and are responsible for their actions." The Bellevue company, eNom, apparently is...

KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to hand over the custody of Abu Omar, one of al-Qaeda militants nabbed from Gulshan-e-Maymar on Thursday, to the United States in a day or two, while his wife and three sons are likely to be flown to Morocco - their homeland - on Saturday. Highly placed sources disclosed this on Friday. "We have completed our investigations and are now satisfied that Abu Omar was not involved in any subversive activity in Pakistan," said a senior intelligence official, who wished not to be named. He said: "The investigations revealed that Abu Omar was trying to...

EXCLUSIVE Was it a right hook or left hook? Thumped ... Abu Hamza       By NEIL SYSON HOOK-HANDED Abu Hamza has been viciously attacked by a fellow jail inmate, it emerged last night.The fanatical Muslim cleric, 47, was thumped inside London’s top-security Belmarsh prison, a jail source said.  DID you whack Hook? If so call The Sun on 020 7782 4105. And by the way, WELL DONE!

Jihad websites removed from computer By PAUL LUNGEN Staff Reporter RackForce Wholesale Hosting Solutions, an Internet company in Kelowna, B.C., has removed six sites from its computers that promoted jihad and vilified Jews. One of the websites, www.shareeah.org, had connections to Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization and was being investigated by the RCMP. Operated by Abu Hamza Al-Misri, a terrorism suspect in prison in Britain and waiting deportation to the United States, the site promoted and supported suicide bombing. Once the company determined it violated its acceptable use policy, RackForce decided to remove it along with five other sites...

Hamas link to London mosqueNick Fielding and Abul Taher, February 13, 2005 A MUSLIM leader appointed to help to run the recently reopened Finsbury Park mosque in north London is a former military commander of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organisation. Mohammed Kassem Sawalha is one of five trustees appointed to give the mosque a fresh start. The mosque was closed last year after becoming a centre of Islamic militancy under Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical cleric facing charges in Britain and America. Sawalha’s link with Hamas emerged after he was named as a co-conspirator in an American court case involving...

London –Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who is in a British jail on incitement to murder charges, is to sue welfare officials for thousands of pounds (dollars) in extra state benefits, a newspaper said. Hamza, who is due in court next month on incitement to murder charges, claims he has been denied benefits worth 200 pounds (290 euros, 389 dollars) a week for nearly three years, The Sun newspaper said. His family are already taking in benefits worth over 1,000 pounds a week, it said. Meanwhile, he is kept at the taxpayers' expense in jail, has his own personal...

EXCLUSIVE Hook sues for new hand-out Suing ... Hamza       By JOHN ASKILL LOATHED cleric Abu Hamza is suing benefit chiefs from his jail cell — for stopping cash over his alleged terror links. Hook-handed fanatic Hamza, 47, claims he is owed thousands of pounds over nearly three years — despite his family getting £1,000-a- week hand-outs. A jail source said: “He has a cheek.”      Hamza already gets this lot...   Rent-free £500k house for wife and eight children  £2million from the taxpayer to fund 7-year legal fight against deportation  Bed-linen changed daily plus help to...

Hamza charged under UK terror act Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been charged with 16 offences including soliciting to murder and possession of a terrorist document. He appeared at the magistrates' court at Belmarsh prison, where he has been since May at the request of the US. The UK charges mean Mr Abu Hamza's US extradition hearing on terror-related matters - due to start on Tuesday - has been put on hold. The Egyptian-born cleric has always denied any involvement in terrorism. Mr Abu Hamza now faces 10 charges of soliciting to murder and four charges of using threatening,...

October 17, 2004 Hamza 'linked to terror camp' Abu Hamza, the radical Muslim cleric, allegedly arranged for one of his British followers to attend a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan run by an Al-Qaeda commander, according to American legal claims, writes Dipesh Gadher.Feroz Abbasi, 24, a former computer student who is now being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, allegedly travelled to Pakistan on Hamza’s advice around November 2000 and was allegedly given instructions to seek out the commander about six months later. Court papers filed in New York charging Hamza with 11 terrorism-related offences claim that the trip...

  Abu Hamza ... will be charged         US fury over hook trial By SIMON HUGHES  HOOK-handed cleric Abu Hamza is set to face terrorism charges in Britain next week — a move certain to infuriate the United States.Washington wants him to face a terror trial over there after issuing an extradition warrant.But a Whitehall source said yesterday: “Hamza will definitely be charged. It is just a question of what with.”Crown Prosecution Service lawyers — who consulted and were sanctioned by the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith — have advised police to charge the ranting cleric with...

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza will face terrorism charges in Britain. He is alleged to have given al Qaeda terrorists logistical and financial support. Hamza, 47, is already in Belmarsh jail in London as part of extradition proceedings brought by the US. Crown Prosecution Service lawyers, who consulted Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, have advised police to charge the Egyptian cleric with terrorist offences. The British charges now take precedence and he will be tried in the UK. It menas Britain risks a high-level disagreement with US officials. Legal sources said the case had "deeply political" ramifications and the decision to...

LONDON (AFP) - Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been de-arrested, but remains detained as authorities examine his possible extradition to the United States to face terrorism-related charges. British police said early Wednesday they had de-arrested a 47-year-old man previously held on suspicion of being involved in the preparation of acts of terrorism, but declined to identify him as Abu Hamza. Hamza, 47, was arrested last Thursday in his cell in the Belmarsh high-security prison under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000 on "suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism" within Britain. Police at...

British prison officials have issued a written apology to suspected Muslim terrorist Abu Hamza and others for offering pork as a prison dinner, The Sun reports. Prison governor Geoff Hughes sent a letter of apology to all inmates, saying the mistake should never have happened. Spicy pork chops were described as suitable for Halal diets. Clearly that is nonsense, he wrote. A prison worker told the newspaper Hamza was livid the Muslim dietary code was ignored. The Muslims saw it as some sort of planned insult to their religion but that's crazy. It was just a mistake, he said. Hughes...

San Jose Website Incites Murder of British PeopleBritish Muslim leaders angry: Terror leaflets found at mosqueBy Jeanette Oldham, Sunday Mercury, Aug 15 2004 _______ Hundreds of leaflets urging Muslims to become terrorist fighters have been distributed at a Midland mosque.Police have been called in to investigate after the flyers were found at Birmingham Central Mosque last week.The leaflets urge worshippers to become Mujahideen fighters and ask them to 'pray for death and decay to be visited upon the West'.The literature bears the name of a group called Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamah, which mosque officials say is often used as an...

A JAIL boss apologised to fanatic Abu Hamza and other Muslim terror suspects when they were offered pork for dinner. They were furious when “spicy pork chops” was listed on the prison menu. Despite a Muslim ban on eating pigs they were told the meal was “suitable for Halal diets”. Hook-handed cleric Hamza is in Belmarsh jail, South East London, fighting extradition to the US on a terror rap. Governor Geoff Hughes sent a letter of apology to all inmates. He wrote: “The mistake should never have happened. Spicy pork chops were described as suitable for Halal diets. Clearly that...