Posted on 04/21/2004 7:10:34 PM PDT by blam
Hamza seeks legal aid for citizenship fight
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
(Filed: 22/04/2004)
Abu Hamza, the extremist Muslim cleric, has applied for legal aid to contest an attempt by the Home Office to strip him of British citizenship.
The Government had originally rejected his request for public funds to fight the case, which begins next Monday. But a review committee has now told the Legal Services Commission to "re-evaluate" that decision.
Hamza, who was removed from his position as imam of the Finsbury Park mosque in north London after an investigation by the Charity Commission, is the first person to face losing his citizenship under new laws introduced last year. His appeal is expected to last three weeks and cost tens of thousands of pounds.
A Treasury spokesman said: "We have a statutory obligation to consider these applications."
Hamza, 46, came to Britain from Egypt as a student in 1980 and gained British nationality when he married in 1985.
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