New attempt to silence radical cleric

For a man who has spent five years playing an elaborate game of cat and mouse with the British authorities, Abu Hamza al-Masri was uncharacteristically silent when police arrived at his Hammersmith home in the early hours of Thursday.

He was bundled into a waiting police van and taken to Paddington Green police station and then to Belmarsh prison where he made his first appearance in what is expected to be a hard-fought extradition battle with the US Government.

As he stood in the dock, the radical Muslim cleric, wearing a grey coat, open-necked white shirt and white T-shirt, was read the charges against him. In the public gallery, more than a dozen of his supporters sat in silence.

Then the court clerk asked him if he would consent to being extradited to the United States. Al-Masri gave a soft laugh and shrugged his shoulders. It was a simple, defiant gesture that left no one in any doubt that he had no intention of giving the American officials an easy ride.

The radical preaching of the Muslim cleric has long been a source of embarrassment for the British Home Office, while his vitriolic attacks on the US and their allies have made him a hate figure of the right-wing press. Since September 11, 2001, there have been several attempts to silence him, including efforts to seek his extradition to Egypt and Yemen.

Throughout all this al-Masri has managed to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. But the latest intervention, by US Attorney-General, John Ashcroft, has raised the stakes. Al-Masri now faces 11 charges under a US indictment, including allegations that he helped to set up terrorist training camps in Oregon, aided hostage takers in Yemen and assisted the Taleban and al Qaeda.

Al-Masri, 47, is an Egyptian-born former nightclub bouncer who says he lost both hands and an eye while clearing Soviet mines in Afghanistan. He has spoken about his admiration for Osama bin Laden but denies breaking the law by supporting terrorism.

He married a British woman, Valerie Fleming, and gained British citizenship but became disillusioned with Western values and immersed himself in the Islamic faith. In the early 1980s, he travelled to Afghanistan to join the jihad against the Soviet occupation. It was there he sustained the injuries to his hands and eye - apparently clearing landmines for the mujahedin - that make him such a distinctive figure.

He has also claimed to have worked in the Muslim community in Bosnia.

On his return to Britain, he became a key figure at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, which has become notorious for its militancy.

In April last year, legal moves began to strip him of his British citizenship and deport him to Yemen using new powers introduced by Home Secretary David Blunkett. The powers allow British citizenship to be removed from immigrants who "seriously prejudice" Britain's interests.

Al-Masri's lawyers immediately appealed, claiming legal aid to cover the costs of the battle. Last month, that appeal formally began but a full hearing by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission was delayed until January 10 next year. Unless al-Masri's lawyers successfully fight the US extradition attempt, that hearing is unlikely to take place.

Al-Masri's entanglement with the British authorities can be traced back to February 1999 when he was said to be linked to terrorists on trial in Yemen accused of kidnapping Westerners, including New Zealand expat Mary Quinn. Yemen claimed he was behind a planned terror campaign and said it wanted him extradited.

Al-Masri was later arrested and questioned by Scotland Yard detectives. He was held for several days before being released without charge. He always maintained his innocence.

In April 2002, al-Masri was formally suspended by the Charity Commission from his position at the mosque because of his inflammatory speeches.

But on September 11, 2002 - the first anniversary of the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks - al-Masri spoke at a controversial conference at the mosque entitled "A Towering Day in History".

The latest efforts to silence al-Masri have all the hallmarks of a meticulously planned operation involving officials from both Washington and London.

Anas Altikriti, of the Muslim Association of Britain voiced concern about the manner of al-Masri's arrest.

"The ever-increasing phenomenon of dawn raids, where people are dragged out of their beds, their families and children terrified, is something which is extremely concerning to Muslims," he said."

- INDEPENDENT