London imam Abu Hamza convicted of US terrorism charges
New York jury takes less than two days to find Islamist preacher extradited from the UK guilty on 11 counts of terrorism after four-week trial
London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was convicted of terrorism charges in New York on Monday, following a four-week trial that shined a spotlight on the preacher’s controversial anti-Western statements.
After deliberating for less than two days, a jury of eight men and four women found Abu Hamza, 56, guilty on all 11 counts he faced, handing Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara his second high-profile terrorism conviction in three months.
Abu Hamza could face life in prison when he is sentenced in September.
Prosecutors had charged the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza with providing a satellite phone and advice to Yemeni militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998, an operation that led to the deaths of four hostages.
Abu Hamza also was accused of dispatching two followers to Oregon to establish a militant training facility and sending an associate to Afghanistan to help al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
His lawyers claimed the case relied largely on the incendiary language in his sermons at London’s Finsbury Park mosque, which earned him notoriety as one of Britain’s most prominent radical Islamic voices.
