I thought lots of SF members would be interested in this one.

Controversial cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been arrested in London on an extradition warrant requested by the US government.

Scotland Yard has confirmed a 47-year-old man was arrested at his home in west London at 0300 BST on Thursday.

Mr Abu Hamza, who preaches outside the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, will appear at Bow Street Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

He is currently fighting attempts to remove his UK citizenship.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said his home was being searched by anti-terrorist officers under the Extradition Act 2003.

Full story on the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3752257.stm)

Lets hope common sense prevails and we get rid of him fairly quickly, although I think he will be given legal aid to fight the extradition, just like he is paid by the state so he can spout his evil preachings......I hope theres a spare cell in Guantanamo Bay.

Good ridence to bad rubbish. he should never have been in our country in the first place.

What i really want to know is how did they handcuff him??? :confused: :D

Its good to see that he's finally locked up,hopefully he wont be able to drag things out to much with all the human rights rubbish.
Nice to see him arrested just before the local election too.:o :rolleyes:

all the human rights rubbish

:confused:

Either you think the law should apply to everyone, or you end up living in a police state. Granted, this is a bad bloke, but he shouldn't just be lynched.

Well said oxbeast. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial and he is a Uk citizen. From what I gather he has known this was coming for some time as he has been fighting against deportation and his loss of UK citizenship. Let him have all the due process because then he is getting fairer treatment than many get in Arab states.

About time too. Fingers crossed for the life sentence.

if this man has been given the right to live in great britain and then abuses it ,why can't he have his rights taken away.

I don't think the government should be trying to 'take his rights away'. I would be wary of any government that made this its business. As far as I could tell, the US is seeking extradition for him as a UK citizen, and at the same time the UK government is trying to get his citizenship revoked, presumably leaving him an Egyptian again. I have no idea which one will work out first.

I don't think the government should be trying to 'take his rights away'.

if I begged for food, and then spat it back in the face of the giver because I did'nt like it, should I be surprised that he would'nt give me any more.

Originally posted by mr craig
What i really want to know is how did they handcuff him??? :confused: :D
With magnets? Ooooohh I can't believe I said that ;)

More to the point, don't you think it's a put up job with the Americans? A bit of good PR in the run up to the Autumn elections?

I'd prefer to see him dealt with in this country. If he's said the stuff the papers say and committed the crimes the Americans say then he should be prosecuted and jailed in the UK.

I'm very surprised that the US have only just asked for his extradition. I thought they had been after him a while along with Yemen.

Originally posted by t020
About time too. Fingers crossed for the life sentence.

Better still a death sentence.

Originally posted by slimsid2000
Better still a death sentence.

Do you think the govenment would let him go to the U.S for trail if there was any chance of that happening.

Originally posted by slimsid2000
Better still a death sentence.

That might make him a martyr in the eyes of his followers, which is probably not the end result you want

To an extent that will happen anyway - I'm sure he will be / is portayed as a "political prisoner".

Personally if he is going to be deported I would prefer to see him go to Yemen as I think that would show we are more interested in fighting terrorism than in being America's political lapdogs.

So, It looks like he will be charged in Britain. :suspect:

As soon as he was required to go to America for trial, our 'learned friends' realised the golden goose was about to slip the net.

So charge him here, collect the dosh, find him innocent, then America will have no claim on him....innocent!

Our legal fraternity are not daft! But they are greedy.

I hope the totally bent Blair loses out on this fiasco. And his lucrative U.S lecture tour suffers badly. :mad:

At the end of the day he is entitled to say what he thinks,we must preserve free speech for EVERYONE even if you find their views offensive.
I dont want him to live in this country but I will fight for his right to free speech come what may.
I suspect however that if he is tried in this country he will get a lot less sentence than if he was tried in the US.

Originally posted by royjames
At the end of the day he is entitled to say what he thinks,we must preserve free speech for EVERYONE even if you find their views offensive.
I dont want him to live in this country but I will fight for his right to free speech come what may.
I suspect however that if he is tried in this country he will get a lot less sentence than if he was tried in the US.

I agree that all have the right to free speech, but only if your prepared to take the consequences of your words. If you sit in a country enjoying its freedoms and protection whilst calling for its destruction then frankly you deserve everything coming to you for the sheer stupidy of such an act.

We cannot deport hamza to the US unless we are given assurances that he would not face the death penality under UK law.