London Mosque Had Weapons, Forged Papers, Police Say
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A London mosque formerly headed by Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri held weapons, military gear and hundreds of forged identity documents when it was raided by U.K. police in early 2003, police disclosed for the first time today.
The Finsbury Park Mosque, in the north of the city, has been linked to dozens of anti-terror investigations and functioned as a key meeting hub for radical Islamic groups, including al-Qaeda, during al-Masri's tenure at the congregation, Britain's Metropolitan Police Service has said.
Al-Masri, 47, was today convicted at a London court of 11 criminal charges, including encouraging the murder of non-Muslims, inciting racial hatred and possessing a document that was likely to be useful to terrorists. The city's Metropolitan Police Service was barred by law from releasing information about the raid until those proceedings were completed.
Around 150 officers entered the mosque at 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 20, 2003, in connection with an investigation into an alleged plot to spread lethal ricin poison on Britain's streets.
Hundreds of forged and stolen identification documents, including passports, check books and credit cards, were found scattered throughout the four-story building, as well as a stash of knives and blank-firing pistols, according to police photographs. Officers also found military equipment, such as gas masks and camouflage clothing, they believe may have been used in jihad training exercises in the U.K.
Moussaoui Connection
Al-Qaeda operatives known to have visited the Finsbury Park mosque include Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; Djamel Beghal, a French national sentenced to 10 years in jail for attempting to blow up the U.S. embassy in Paris; and Richard Reid, a British citizen serving a life sentence in the U.S. for trying to detonate a bomb on an American passenger flight, police said.
U.S. prosecutors are seeking to extradite al-Masri, who was removed as the mosque's imam less than a month after the raid, for allegedly providing support to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and trying to establish a terror training camp in Bly, Oregon. Al-Masri is a U.K. citizen.
The U.S. government also claims he was involved in a 1998 hostage-taking plot in Yemen in which four people died.
Those proceedings have been on hold pending the resolution of the U.K. criminal charges against him.
One Algerian man, Kamel Bourgass, is currently serving a life term in prison in connection with the alleged ricin plot. He was convicted last year of killing a police sergeant during a separate police raid in Manchester and conspiring to make and release a homemade version of the poison.
Four other suspects in the conspiracy were acquitted in 2005 and charges against another four dropped.
London police have said they now have a close, positive relationship with the current leaders of the Finsbury Park Mosque, where hundreds of Muslims attend prayer services weekly.
The Finsbury Park Mosque, in the north of the city, has been linked to dozens of anti-terror investigations and functioned as a key meeting hub for radical Islamic groups, including al-Qaeda, during al-Masri's tenure at the congregation, Britain's Metropolitan Police Service has said.
Al-Masri, 47, was today convicted at a London court of 11 criminal charges, including encouraging the murder of non-Muslims, inciting racial hatred and possessing a document that was likely to be useful to terrorists. The city's Metropolitan Police Service was barred by law from releasing information about the raid until those proceedings were completed.
Around 150 officers entered the mosque at 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 20, 2003, in connection with an investigation into an alleged plot to spread lethal ricin poison on Britain's streets.
Hundreds of forged and stolen identification documents, including passports, check books and credit cards, were found scattered throughout the four-story building, as well as a stash of knives and blank-firing pistols, according to police photographs. Officers also found military equipment, such as gas masks and camouflage clothing, they believe may have been used in jihad training exercises in the U.K.
Moussaoui Connection
Al-Qaeda operatives known to have visited the Finsbury Park mosque include Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; Djamel Beghal, a French national sentenced to 10 years in jail for attempting to blow up the U.S. embassy in Paris; and Richard Reid, a British citizen serving a life sentence in the U.S. for trying to detonate a bomb on an American passenger flight, police said.
U.S. prosecutors are seeking to extradite al-Masri, who was removed as the mosque's imam less than a month after the raid, for allegedly providing support to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and trying to establish a terror training camp in Bly, Oregon. Al-Masri is a U.K. citizen.
The U.S. government also claims he was involved in a 1998 hostage-taking plot in Yemen in which four people died.
Those proceedings have been on hold pending the resolution of the U.K. criminal charges against him.
One Algerian man, Kamel Bourgass, is currently serving a life term in prison in connection with the alleged ricin plot. He was convicted last year of killing a police sergeant during a separate police raid in Manchester and conspiring to make and release a homemade version of the poison.
Four other suspects in the conspiracy were acquitted in 2005 and charges against another four dropped.
London police have said they now have a close, positive relationship with the current leaders of the Finsbury Park Mosque, where hundreds of Muslims attend prayer services weekly.
posted by Marko at 2/07/2006 10:06:00 AM
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