CAMP X-RAY BRITON ACCUSES UK RADICAL MUSLIM CLERIC OF RECRUITING TERRORISTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06716937
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: May 15, 2018
• Case Number: F-2018-00242
• Publication Date: April 15, 2002

Approved for Release: 2018/05/01 C06716937
R 151442Z APR 02
FM FBIS RESTON VA
UNCLAS
4444
WARNING: TOPIC: DOMESTIC POLITICAL, INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL,
TERRORISM
SERIAL: E0P20020414000170
COUNTRY: AFGHANISTAN, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES
SUBJ: Camp X-Ray Briton Accuses UK Radical Muslim Cleric of
Recruiting Terrorists
SOURCE: London The Sunday Times (Internet Version-WWW) in English
14 Apr 02 '
TEXT:
[Article by Hala Jaber and Nicholas Rufford with additional
reporting by Dipesh Gadher and Nayab Chohan: "Camp X-Ray Confession
Reveals UK Terror Link"]
[FBIS Transcribed Text] A Briton being held at Camp X-Ray,
the high-security US prison for al-Qa'ida suspects, has blamed a
radical Muslim cleric living in London for turning him to
terrorism.
In a confession to British and American investigators, Feroz
Abbasi claimed that members of Finsbury Park mosque - the base of
cleric Abu Hamza - helped to organise his terrorist training and
provided him with air tickets to Afghanistan.
Abbasi, 22, has also said that at one stage he wanted to be a
suicide bomber to die a martyr.
The confession, the first to emerge from the five British
prisoners at Camp X-Ray in Cuba, is likely to embarrass the Home
Office. Since arriving in Britain from Egypt in the late 1970s,
Hamza has been given a British passport and thousands of pounds in
welfare benefits. He was linked to a plot to blow up western
targets in Yemen for which five Britons were jailed three years
ago, including his son Mustapha Kamel.
Last night Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon who has
been investigating Hamza and other Islamic fundamentalists in
Britain for two years, said he would be writing to the home
secretary as a matter of urgency. "I think that Abu Hamza is a
very dangerous individual at the centre of a spider's web of
evil. I hope we now have the evidence that will enable the
authorities to take action," he said.
Abbasi studied at Finsbury Park under Hamza after abandoning a
college computer course and deserting his local mosque in Croydon,
south London, in search of more radical Islamic teaching in 1999.
His mother, Zumrati Juma, last saw him in December 2000, when he
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returned home to pick up a pair of army boots, saying he wanted to
go to Afghanistan.
During his interrogation, Abbasi said he flew to Pakistan
before crossing the Afghan border to train at the Khaldan terrorist
camp. There he is believed to have met Richard Reid, the airline.
'shoe bomber, and David Hicks, an Australian now at Camp X-Ray, At
least one of the September 11 hijackers is also thought to have
trained at the camp.
Under questioning by MI5 officers, Abbasi said Hamza was his
spiritual mentor. Other suspects known to have worshipped at
Finsbury Park include Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th
hijacker" now in custody in America, and Djamel Beghal, a
French-Algerian accused of masterminding a plot to blow up the US
embassy in Paris.
Hamza is entitled to disability benefits and uses metal claws
after losing his hands while allegedly fighting with the mujaheddin
against Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
He has always denied involvement in terrorism and has been
careful to stay within the law. But Hamza preaches hardline views
that chime with the anti-Israeli and anti-western beliefs of many
of his followers.
On Friday he led prayers at the mosque, calling on Muslims
across the world to stand firm against Ariel Sharon, the Israeli
prime minister. He has pledged to continue his diatribes, while
admitting that the Charities Commission had withdrawn support from
the mosque because of the inflammatory content of his sermons.
Hamza denied he had recruited Abbasi, and said his claims might
have been made under duress. "There are many people who come and
go at the mosque. I don't make special relations with anybody.
I just deliver my sermon and go," he said.
When asked if he was a member of al-Qa'ida, Hamza said he was
in a meeting and put down the phone.
[Description of Source: London The Sunday Times (Internet
Version-WWW) in English -- conservative newspaper covered for
worldwide reports]
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