Posted on 08/11/2005 1:12:36 PM PDT by dennisw
Bakri left Britain for the first time in 20 years at the weekend after gaining a Lebanese passport, apparently without the knowledge of the Home Office, to fly to Beirut where his mother lives.
He receives £331.28 a month in incapacity benefit and £183.30 a month in disability living allowance because of a leg injury he suffered in his teens.
Both payments will continue for at least six months while he is abroad, as long as he plans to return, as will the housing benefit on his home in Edmonton, north London, and his council tax benefit.
His wife, who remains in Britain with their seven children, can also continue to claim a benefits package thought to be worth at least £1,300 a month. Bakri drives a Toyota people carrier worth £30,000, paid for under a scheme called Motability.
The preacher is expected to return for an angioplasty procedure. That involves inserting and inflating a balloon in the coronary artery to improve blood flow.
He has been receiving treatment at North Middlesex Hospital, near his home, as well as at St Thomas's.
One of his supporters told The Daily Telegraph yesterday: "He has a heart condition and was scheduled for treatment but I don't know when or if he is planning to return for it."
Bakri, who comes from a wealthy, orthodox Muslim family from Syria, ran a computer business when he arrived in Britain but it collapsed.
As a teenager, he lived in Beirut. He then studied Sharia law at Damascus University before moving to Saudi Arabia.
He was deported and claimed asylum in Britain.
Despite Mr Blair's assurance last Friday that Britain would no longer be a haven for Muslim extremists, John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, said this week that Bakri had committed no offence and was therefore free to "come in and out".
But Home Office officials are known to be exploring every legal avenue to find a way to prevent his setting foot in the country again. The revelation that Bakri might return for NHS treatment will intensify the pressure for action to be taken, possibly after the present two-week consultation period on beefing up deportation rules.
Michael Howard, the Conservative leader and a former home secretary, challenged Labour to explain why existing powers could not be invoked against Bakri and said that Mr Prescott was talking "absolute nonsense".
He said that foreign nationals whose presence was not conducive to the public good could be expelled and that Bakri should be excluded "without delay".
Speaking before the revelation about the cleric's planned heart operation, he said: "If there is a reason why the Government feels the Home Secretary cannot use these powers, we should be told what it is."
There was fresh confusion over the suggestion that centuries-old treason laws could be used against extremist clerics.
Ken Macdonald, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the subject had never been discussed between his staff and Scotland Yard. But last week the Attorney-General's Office said that treason was one option.
One positive development in Mr Blair's anti-terrorist drive was confirmation that the Government had signed an agreement with Jordan, giving assurances that anyone deported there would not be tortured or subjected to unacceptable treatment.
The move could bring the removal of Abu Qatada, a Jordanian citizen who has been called "Osama bin Laden's ambassador in Europe", although the agreement could be challenged in the courts.
The Home Office refused to comment on that or on Bakri's case.
It also refused to comment on a meeting that Hazel Blears, the Home Office minister, held with faith group leaders and Muslim MPs.
Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, has also refused to comment on Bakri's situation, saying he did not want to influence any future legal action against any individual.
Of course it is possible that when they open him up they'll discover that he has no heart.
If I were a British taxpayer, I would be tempted to tell the Inland Revenue to get stuffed, no more of my money for people who want to murder me. As it is I am just outraged that the British government supports this man and his ilk.
Didn't sound like he was going to be having surgery in Britain soon...............
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1461150/posts
Both payments will continue for at least six months while he is abroad, as long as he plans to return, as will the housing benefit on his home in Edmonton, north London, and his council tax benefit.
His wife, who remains in Britain with their seven children, can also continue to claim a benefits package thought to be worth at least £1,300 a month. Bakri drives a Toyota people carrier worth £30,000, paid for under a scheme called Motability.
The preacher is expected to return for an angioplasty procedure. That involves inserting and inflating a balloon in the coronary artery to improve blood flow.
In more enlightened times traitors were hung, disemboweled, cut down and then drawn and quartered.
Who is Bakri?
Is he someone famous in Britain?
I have to assume so, since he has only one name.
They were hung when the Nation had a semblance of godliness.
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