Posted on 08/16/2005 2:40:08 AM PDT by Budgie
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - Hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza is covered from head to foot in scabs because he has an ailment that makes his skin bleed.
Inmates at top-security Belmarsh prison in south London were already up in arms about the stink Hamza is causing - by refusing to take showers.
Now the Islamic fundamentalist, who used to preach at London's Finsbury Park Mosque, is leaving a trail of "white pellets" behind him as they fall from the scabs.
A prison nurse has apparently been applying ointment but with little success.
A prison insider said today: "Hamza has been skipping showers, probably because of his disability. He stinks, so other prisoners have been complaining about him for a long time.
"I think he had a skin problem before he came to Belmarsh but now it is an epidemic. He has scabs all over his arms, legs and chest. The only part that is OK is his face.
"Wherever he goes, he leaves white pellets. It is very unpleasant for him and everybody else."
Hamza, 47, is in the jail awaiting trial on charges including soliciting murder.
His solicitor Muddassar Arani confirmed that he has a skin condition but refused to identify it. She said: "It is affecting him from head to toe.
"He is bleeding everywhere and when I go to see him on prison visits I can see the blood. It is very off-putting because I don't want to draw attention to it but you can't help but see it.
"He cannot get enough showers either because he has only two hours association time a day and that includes his legal visits.
"He has a disability and does not want to shower in front of other prisoners."
Claims that Hamza has contagious scabies have been denied.
One theory is that he could have psioriasis, which results in flakes falling from crusty red patches on the skin.
Hamza has been in Belmarsh since last May when he was held at the request of the US authorities, who want him extradited to face terrorism charges there.
Since then, he has been charged in the UK with 16 offences including soliciting others to murder non-believers, racial hatred and possessing a document liable to help terrorists.
Hamza will face the charges in July before any decision is made in the US case. The Home Office is also trying to remove his UK citizenship....
My husband has psoriasis pretty bad. He claims it doesn't itch (I think he's lying), but when it's really bad he does leave a trail. It doesn't make him dirty, because he's not. He's got a great attitude about it, and since it doesn't bother him, well, it doesn't bother me, either! He's one of the smartest, most handsome men I know of. Even with the psoriasis!
Hollywood movie concept meeting ---
Abu Hamza - The Heartbreak of Psoriasis meets the Hemorrhoid of Jihad.
It's like I gotta solve everything!
Don't know the cause, but I've got the cure. They need to give him a total transfusion... with hog's blood. Guarantee it'll cure what's wrong with him!
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
Job 2:7-8
Hey, you can DIE of psoriasis! Did pvt duty once for a guy who had NO SKIN intact on his body. In isolation. It used to hurt when he urinated. . .raw skin, you know. Nasty beyond belief.
Your roommate didn't want to KILL you.
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