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Abu Hamza ... will be charged
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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 offences related to the support of terrorism. Hamza, being held at Belmarsh Jail in South East London, was arrested on the US extradition warrant in May. But British authorities — who are also thought to be looking at racial hatred claims against the cleric — are expected to charge him on Monday. That would mean he must have a trial here FIRST before being handed over to the United States. Hamza could be extradited before serving a sentence. The cleric is wanted in America over a hostage-taking drama in Yemen in 1998 in which three Britons died. He is also accused over the setting up of a terrorist training camp in Oregon and the recruitment of militia to fight Allied forces in Afghanistan. The Home Office said: “The CPS has decided to prosecute him and it is a matter for the police to press charges.” Westminster sources last night admitted the decision will have “deeply political ramifications”. Hamza, 47 — who preached at the Finsbury Park mosque — could be jailed for 100 years if convicted in America. |