Author:
Publication: The Washington Times
Date: February 8, 2003
Deposed from his mosque because
of his anti-Western rhetoric, cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri took his radical
brand of Islam to the streets yesterday and told worshippers President
Bush is a curse to his people and the planet.
The Egyptian-born activist, who
is wanted in Yemen on terrorism charges, also said the space shuttle disaster
was an alarming sign from Allah that America will face fresh calamities.
It was no coincidence that the Columbia
disintegrated over Texas, al-Masri told 100 worshippers who knelt in the
street outside the Finsbury Park mosque in north London.
"It is the headquarters of Mr. Bush.
It is a message for him. You are a curse for your people, for the planet
and mankind. The message is that some big calamities are going to drop
on your head."
According to British tabloid reports,
al-Masri "gloated" over the Columbia crash and the death of its crew of
seven on Feb. 1.
"It was a trinity of evil against
Muslims, because [the shuttle] contained Americans, an Israeli and a Hindu,"
he was quoted as saying. The shuttle carried Israel's first astronaut,
Col. Ilan Ramon, and six Americans, including India-born Hindu Kalpana
Chawla.
A mainstream Muslim leader quickly
denounced the cleric's "publicity seeking antics" as "grossly offensive."
"He seems to have no understanding
of the damage that his rhetoric does to community relations in this country
and the harm it does to ordinary British Muslims," said Inayat Bungalwala
of the Muslim Council of Britain.
Al-Masri has been ordered to stop
preaching at the mosque by a government body because his "extreme and political"
statements conflict with the mosque's charitable status.
The mosque's trustees have said
the modern red-brick building, which was closed after an anti-terrorism
raid last month, will remain shuttered until it can be cleansed of al-
Masri's "spiritual filth."
But the cleric, who lost both hands
and an eye fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan and has a hook in the place
of his right hand, has vowed not to be silenced, especially on Fridays,
the Muslim day of worship.
The Columbia disaster "shows the
evil coalition between Israel and America is immoral and is going to be
disintegrated," he told worshippers, who knelt on plastic sheeting facing
toward Mecca.
The United States says al-Masri
is a member of the Islamic Army of Aden, the organization that took responsibility
for the deadly bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen. The cleric is wanted
in Yemen for purportedly orchestrating terrorist activities there, but
as a British citizen is protected from extradition.
Al-Masri denies any involvement
in violence and says he is only a spokesman for political causes. But terrorism
experts fear his vociferous anti-American message could radicalize Britain's
Muslim youth.
In the past few years, the mosque
has become a center of radical Islam.
