June 17, 2014

HISTORY

This is a really old TV debate which seems to be from just before Bakri and Hamza's infamous "Commemoration of 9/11"

June 11, 2014

ATILLA SPEAKS ABOUT HAMZA

Again from Salafimedia, here Atilla speaks about Abu Hamza. Mr Waleeds filming is a bit more pro than mine

TRIAL FOOTAGE

This is the (shaky at first) 1 chip footage I sent to Hamza's defence lawyers in New York, an edit of which was shown to the jury in court.

May 23, 2014

HAMZA LEGACY STORIES

A few post Hamza stories,

How to beat the preachers of hate By Ghaffar Hussain from Quilliam is coming with the Quilliam idea of engaging extremists in debate on twat and in chatrooms. Fuck knows, it might work.

...Extremist narratives only lose their appeal when they are undermined and thoroughly discredited; when the debate is opened up and won by their opponents, rather than being shut down and lost. We need to enter the realm of ideas and pitch more positive and enlightened values against extreme and regressive arguments.... 

Maybe if we had engaged extremists in suits thousands of Iraqis wouldn't now be dead. Again fuck knows. You can engage people cant you. I suppose.

Another article enthusiastically titled Abu Hamza embodies Britain’s self-destructive madness. Read it yourself, it contains a long forgotten video of long forgotten times when everyone could preach Jihad eh



After studying Hamza, his posse and all the subsequent court cases I attended for so many years I am a bit surprised I haven't really got a post Hamza story myself. I am glad the jury got to see the unreported truth that Mr Hamza spoke very clearly against terrorism outside the mosque because it is the truth. I didn't expect it to do any good.

When I read about the things he was saying and how he over ruled his own defence in a letter to the judge demanding to testify the emotions I felt a long time ago welled up and I frantically sent stuff to his lawyers.  I still have no idea if he is guilty of any or all of this, but I saw enough that I will always be concerned at the difference between Hamza in soundbites and Hamza week in week out on the street. I have as much idea as anyone else about what Hamza may or may not have done behind closed doors, but on the street I was very worried that we might be losing someone who was actually putting the brakes on terrorism.

 I was talking to Raff Pantucci about this the other day who has taken a much more professional interest in all this than I have and over some beer my doubts crystalised as follows.

Hamza either had an unburstable ego or an unshakable faith. Only when charges first came from the FBI was he visibly shaken which I have on film.  I just think if Hamza was in favour of terr-ism he would have bloody well said so. Plenty of others were saying so at the time and have said so since.

Some of Hamza's mates used to say to me "Bakri's posse speak in favour of terrorism, we don't yet we get all the hassle from the media". They speculated that maybe Bakri's posse were working for MI-5. Another of Hamza's friends said Mr H "was concerned because the kids weren't calling him anymore" meaning that he was worried they were becoming terr-ists,

I am cool these days with people believing whatever they want about Hamza, even the Sun who stole my video. People have their opinion and I have mine and the people who know either aren't saying or are saying in exchange for cash and freedom.

Fuck knows.

This sort of thing is obviously more sobering.

I think people should pay for their crimes, I just have the feeling in terms of a wider non existant "peace process" we might have lost someone in Hamza.  The only Mad Muslim to suggest a "peace process" was Moaazam Begg and now we lost him too.

(Update: Moazaam has since been freed) Meanwhile in Finsbury Park Mosque

...Ensuring young worshippers cannot become potential recruits to a jihadist agenda, Mr Kozbar advocates working with youth groups, counteracting the kind of ostracising that helps breed hatred. “We take [young people] away from the street, from gangs, from drugs and from extremism, as well as creating an atmosphere where they can debate and play table tennis and snooker in a relaxed atmosphere.”.. 

PS
I just found Raff in an excellent debate about Jihadi Brits going to Syria on BBC Newsnight here 
...


May 20, 2014

MAYBE NOT

Very interesting leaflet through the door. Information about the Syria product launch on the Met Police site here.  The leaflet itself you can read here. It does explain stuff in very simple terms.

...

IT IS NOW

"for the misery he brought to others" says Mr Blunkett

 Though apparently there is going to be an appeal

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May 16, 2014

THEY THINK ITS ALL OVER

And it probably is eh

..."He tried to come across to you as a calm man, accepting of others -- the exact opposite of the man you heard on tapes and videos," said prosecutor Ian McGinley. " . . . The real Abu Hamza is not the man you see in 2014. The real Abu Hamza is the one who said 'killing a Kafir [non-Muslim], you can say it's OK even if there's no reason.' "

But the defense said the government was trying to cover up gaps in the evidence tying Abu Hamza to actual plots by falling back on incendiary -- but legal -- rhetoric that praised Osama bin Laden and espoused a militant view of Islam.
"A lot, if not a majority of the government's case, is his words, not his deeds, his words taken out of context, his words without the correct perspective," said defense lawyer Jeremy Schneider. "This case is about what he did, not what he said in the '80s or '90s....

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May 14, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

People are making TV about Mad Muslims a lot more like how I used to do my Youtube clips these days ie pointing a camera at people and asking them to explain what they think rather than just telling them off on TV or making stupid angles and slants on them. Not difficult is it?  Watch an excellent Panorama From Jail to Jihad and read a good article about it all in The Independent here. Of course to me in terms of mad muslims Vice are knocking everyone else out of the park.


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May 13, 2014

CROSS EXAMINATION

Abu Hamza told to stop making speeches by New York judge

Abu Hamza 'stashed guide to bomb-making in cell at one of Britain's highest security prisons'

also on twat
#AbuHamza allegedly planned to send 3000 followers to Afghanistan and set up Taliban office in Finsbury Park mosque

the tweet links to a picture.

UPDATE well it did link to a picture of a letter posted by DipeshGadher which he said was used in the trial but it has since mysteriously disappeared.

reference to the letter in the Sunday Times here. 18th may in an article by Dipesh Gadher. That solves everything.
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LAST DAY

from the Guardian  Mr Hamza makes a currently unfortunate Jerry Adams reference
Abu Hamza denies Yemen kidnapping role as New York terror trial continues

 ...“I was acting as a mouthpiece, like Gerry Adams” he said. “And like Gerry Adams, of the IRA, you can't afford to do anything that is not legal and transparent.”...

 ...“I felt angry and I felt betrayed because of the ignorance of the people. They cannot focus on the cause. I did not have control of things.”...

 ...Abu Hassan, the head of the kidnappers, was “not visualising the real situation”, Hamza said. He said that the Yemeni government knew “exactly where he was” and there were also SAS special forces in the area.

“They will finish him even if they finish the whole tourists with him,” Hamza said...

 ....Hamza said he told Hassan to keep his focus on the longer term. "I said to him: 'Focus on what you want, you want an Islamic state, you should not be jumpy.'" Asked by Dratel if there was "any discussion of the kidnapping", Hamza replied: "No, certainly no."...

 From KWCH12

...He described Osama bin Laden as a hothead, in charge of an unfocused organization that has betrayed the Afghan people. As for the Taliban regime, it doesn't need his money; it has "millions," yet doesn't feed its own people, he said. 

But in Manhattan, by invoking 9/11 and bin Laden's name, al-Masri mused, "you can convict a person of killing the Dead Sea."...

Malaymailonline-

...But he insisted under questioning from his attorney that he did not know about the kidnapping beforehand and said he felt “betrayed” when he learned about it. 

 “Innocent people are not to be touched,” he said at his trial in New York on terrorism charges. “You can see this in my preaching.”...

I am told at this point they introduced some of my filming.

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May 09, 2014

MORE HAMZA

Hamza tells about his injuries  

...He said that during testing, one explosives expert “who was not very good in health and safety,” left behind a container with explosive chemicals. He said the “expert” believed the device wouldn’t ignite unless the fuse was lit but failed to factor in that a strip of “foil on the detonator” could trigger a chemical reaction. He said the container got “hot” and he knew he had to act fast – but ran out of options. After previously being told “if anything goes wrong to throw” explosives “in the bathroom,” al-Masri said he couldn’t because “someone was washing their hands.” So he held onto it. “I felt the explosive,” he said. “I did not go out immediately until I was filled with blood. Then I went into a coma.”...

...He also exchanged chuckles with Judge Katherine Forrest while testifying how simple it was to change his name on his British passport in order to travel to Bosnia in the mid-1990s to provide cars and cash to Muslim fighters.
“It’s simple,” he said. “Pay 25 pounds ($42 in today’s money) and say I want to be John Travolta.”
“Did you go with John Travolta?” the judge asked.
“No ma’am,” said al-Masri, causing chuckles from people throughout the packed courtroom...

from the BBC website

...He is also self-deprecating. He says people have exaggerated the part he played with the mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
"Unfortunately the reputation is much bigger than the reality," he says.
He had only a bit part, he says: "Just a couple of bullets towards the communist regime". His past has been embellished in other ways, too.
"All sorts of stories," he says. "Some people say I went to Saudi Arabia and stole money, and they cut off my hands. The gossip never ends."...

  from CNN

...As several thousand Muslim men and boys lay in mass graves in Srebrenica, Bosnia, a young boy -- maybe 12 -- wearing camouflage and clutching a Kalashnikov received a hug from a grieving mother. "I wish I trained my son," the woman said. Abu Hamza al-Masri broke down in the tears on the stand Thursday as he recounted the moment, which was pivotal for the radical cleric. He left Bosnia with the belief that training in physical jihad, even for children, is crucial to the defense of Muslims when governments and outside forces fail to keep them safe... 

...Al-Masri, who may be the only defense witness, testified he came to London as a young man because loved the Western lifestyle, wanted to make money and have fun. "American style," he smiled. He worked as a bouncer and strip-club manager before bits of Islamic teachings from friends began to penetrate his mind, he testified. The hypocrisy of his lifestyle hit him like a slap in the face. Al-Masri would go on to become the high-profile imam of a London mosque and allegedly inspired several notorious terrorists with his sermons, including failed shoe bomber Richard Reid and 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. He denied on the stand that he ever provided support to al Qaeda or the Taliban government. He noted that he hasn't spoken before a crowd since his 2004 arrest and that a decade in solitary confinement has eroded his memory and grasp of language. The trial has been reinvigorating, said al-Masri, and the preacher drew laughter from in the courtroom Wednesday afternoon as he used examples of marital spats to illustrate the practical application of Islamic truth...

A more comprehensive account on Arab News

And Sky news again ...The tearful cleric portrays himself as a voice of moderation, even as he speaks of his "love" for Osama Bin Laden, in his trial...

 ...

May 08, 2014

HAMZA IN THE DOCK

Really gutted I am missing this would have loved to be there in person

Asked by his lawyer if he would tell the truth to the federal court he said: "I am no stranger to prison.
"If my freedom comes at the expense of my dignity and my faith, I don't want it, simple as that."

Abu Hamza acted as an intermediary for MI5 and Scotland Yard for years so he could help “keep the streets of London safe”, his defence lawyer claimed yesterday. The former cleric of the Finsbury Park mosque was in “constant dialogue” with British intelligence services to try to avert conflict around the world, it was alleged. Hamza would be called to engage his Islamist contacts to help with the release of hostages as a sort of peacekeeper for the Muslim world. At his New York terrorism trial, Hamza’s lawyer Joshua Dratel said it was “critical” for the jury to understand that the hate preacher’s real aims were actually very noble. Mr Dratel told the court the reality was that Hamza was “looking to prevent terrorism” and not encourage it. “His intention was to keep the streets of London safe.”

I read somewhere else that the judge wouldn't let the jury hear this last bit of evidence and the defence team are challenging this decision.

Channel 4 also on the theme of Hamza's security work-

Joshua Dratel, defending Hamza, who was extradited to the US in 2012, said: "It goes to the theme of our defence that he was an intermediary, that MI5 asked him on multiple times to act in hostage situations, cool down the community and maintain a sense of order."

If you look at 46min 47 sec on this video you can see what Hamza is talking about. He said this sort of thing on the street in the UK quite regularly



...

May 07, 2014

YEMEN

Mary Quin testimony, Mr Hamza starts on Wednesday, meanwhile in the UK the Mirror concentrates on important aspects of the trial. Donuts.

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May 02, 2014

FOUR LIONS IN THE USA

I wish I was in New York for this long awaited testimony although its pretty much what everyone expected more Four Lions than terr-ist training.

CNN

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April 28, 2014

BIN BUT NO H

A British al-Qaeda supergrass told yesterday how Osama Bin Laden gave him a hug and wished him well on his suicide bombing mission...

 but he hasn't said nothing about Mr Hamza yet. I think I am the only one in the UK still interested in this story.

On the subject of Bin here is a very cooky article about Osama's time in London
..

April 24, 2014

ITS IN THE MANUAL

Flashed onto a large screen for members of the jury to see, the map pinpointed a bin Laden home and said the Taliban had "45,000 troops plus the bin Laden bases and training camps." Various extracts of the textbook, translated into English, were read to jurors detailing how to plant mines, wage sabotage and recruit youngsters aged 15-17, and leaders no older than 23. "A person of this age is more receptive... and he is ready to sacrifice for it," according to the translated text. Other titbits dealt with assassinations and kidnappings, with the advice: "Do not prolong the period of detention and start executing hostages" to show your zeal.

also, finally we get to hear testimony from Oregon! From a very colourful sounding witness:


...According to al-Masri’s lawyer last week, the camp was similar to being in the “Cub Scouts,’’ with the men riding horses, tending to little lambs and telling campfire stories. 

 But Hatley said one of the arrivals, militant Oussama Kassir, boasted about previously running training camps in Afghanistan and being a “hit man” for Osama bin Laden.

 She said Kassir told her that al-Masri was his “leader” and that al-Masri sent him and others to the Bly ranch to create a “training camp” where men would learn to shoot guns, throw knives and do calisthenics along open, spacious fields abutting a ravine and desolate dirt roads.

 “He said he was there to train men for jihad,” she said. “He said that Abu Hamza sent him. He intended to train them to fight.”

The visitors, she claimed, said the ranch resembled Afghanistan. She added that some had CDs with information on how to make poisons to “kill people” and regularly “talked” about “robbing and killing truck drivers” on nearby roads.

Kassir, she recalled, claimed there were plans to eventually dig a hillside compound at the ranch for al-Masri to hide out in.

“I was shocked,” said Hatley, who claims she fled the ranch in fear in December 1999, four months after moving in.

 During cross-examination, al-Masri’s lawyer Jeremy Schneider painted the gun-loving Hatley as paranoid and having a shady track record. She admitted to him under oath that she agreed to marry her husband after only their first encounter — and had tricked him into thinking she had money.

 She claimed she feared that Rule — who was married four previous times and had 18 kids — wanted to kill her and had “suffocated” his previous wife to death.

When asked if Rule, al-Masri, Kassir or others who stayed at the ranch had ever threatened her, she said, “No, but I am still afraid.”

Hatley went into witness protection in 2004 but was kicked out years later for telling one of her new neighbors her secret. She was given a second chance, but the feds booted her again after she violated multiple rules, including driving with a suspended license...

...

April 20, 2014

MARY QUINN

But Mary cut him off and said: “I am one of the tourists who was taken hostage by Abu Hassan.”

Hamza was speechless for a moment – then smiled and said: “I am surprised that you would have come here. "Very surprised.”

 Mary asked to tape their meeting. Incredibly, Hamza agreed.

She said: “Our 15-minute conversation lasted nearly an hour.”

Hamza admitted providing a satellite phone for Abu Hassan and being in touch with him during the 1998 ambush. He expressed regret for the deaths of the four tourists and insisted he had ordered the kidnappers to keep them safe.

 Hamza told her: “We never thought it would be that bad.”

 She also asked whether he wanted to turn Britain into an Islamic state.

Hamza replied: “I don’t intend everyone should be converted to Islam but the image of Islam has been distorted. “Western countries want Muslim countries to be poor and weak.

“I want peace for those who love peace, war for those who love war.”

At the end of the interview, Hamza leaned forward and warned: “Do not go back to the south of Yemen. "They will not bother with kidnapping foreigners next time. “Rocket attacks on tourists will be next. From a hill, they can fire a rocket at a car. You will not see it coming.”

Mary – now chief executive officer of international technology giant Callaghan Innovation – added;

“Hamza said he could spare no more time and called on one of the youths sitting behind me on the floor to escort me from the mosque. “I thanked him for his time and asked if I could follow up with him in future if I had more questions. “He gave his mobile phone number.”

 Mary Quinns book Kidnapped in Yemen is very interesting and well worth a read

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April 19, 2014

BITE ME

...Smith said Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza, told his followers they would be filled with so much zeal on the battlefield that "it would make you want to throw your AK-47 and run up to the nonbeliever and bite him."...

...

April 17, 2014

NEED TO BE OUTRAGEOUS

Kim, the prosecutor, told the jury: “In the fall of 1999, two men were sent on a mission, directed to travel halfway round the world to another country. They were sent on that mission by their leader.” That man, Kim said, was Hamza.

They were sent, he said, to a remote compound set a mile back from the nearest road and given money to accomplish their mission. Kim said its purpose was to establish a training camp for terrorism, “a place for men to fight and to kill”.

The compound had nerve gas and explosives, and they learned how to shoot a gun and how to slit a throat, Kim said. The prosecutor told the jury that the two men carried with them letters, one to Bin Laden and one thanking Hamza. He told the jury they would hear evidence showing how Hamza participated in the “terrifying” hostage-taking in Yemen, providing “crucial resources and guidance”.

Kim said the defendant had posted a message to westerners to “stay out of Yemen”, shortly before the hostage-taking. “Abu Hamza did not just post that warning about Yemen. He provided a satellite phone” and paid for additional minutes.

 In 2001, when US soldiers were fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Hamza sent two of his followers, including Feroz Abbasi, a British national who was detained at Guantánamo Bay, to fight. He told the jury they would hear from an al-Qaida operative via video link about Abbasi in Afghanistan.

Kim said the jury would also hear from two women in Bly, into whose community Hamza sent two of his followers in the middle of the night. The two men, Kim said, carried money Hamza had given them to set up the camp, and a CD with instructions on how to make bombs. They dressed in black, carried knives, and one of them was so committed he brought over his wife and family.

 Kim told them they would hear from two of the rescued hostages, including Mary Quinn, who managed to escape into the desert and who travelled to London two years later to interview Hamza at the mosque about the kidnapping. “Abu Hamza said it was justified.” Dratel, Hamza's defence counsel, said his client did not participate in any of the crimes, “not in Yemen, not in Oregon, not in Afghanistan”.

 Dratel said he “he never set foot in the US” until he was extradited. Hamza was extradited to the US from Britain after an eight-year battle in 2012, following his conviction and imprisonment in the UK for inciting his followers to kill non-Muslims.

Dratel described his client as “his own man” and “an independent thinker” who was concerned about oppressed Muslim communities around the world.

He said Hamza's controversial views, which he had a right to hold, were not a crime. Dratel said that in the late 1980s and 1990s, his client spoke up for Muslim communities who were being oppressed in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.

Dratel said his client “needed to be outrageous” to keep the entire spectrum of appeal to his community. “There's a third way between Osama bin Laden on one extreme and George Bush on the other,” he said.

 Dratel told the jury that Hamza was relied upon by British intelligence to try to keep the situation non-violent. He said he had raised the alarm on the hostage-taking in Yemen. He said Hamza had not sent anyone to Afghanistan, but had provided money for schools, charities and computers there. "He is not a follower of Osama bin Laden. He is not a follower of anyone. He's his own man.”

also Two High Court judges warned Theresa May that if there are no US assurances by 4pm on June 13, her decision to go ahead with the extradition of Haroon Aswat, despite a European court ruling blocking his removal, will be quashed.

Trial of jihadist cleric expected to highlight ex-Guantanamo detainee's al Qaeda role 

...

ABBASI

Feroz Ali Abbasi, a 34-year-old former computer student from Croydon, is set to play a key role in testimony prepared for the trial of Abu Hamza in New York

also

Two High Court judges warned Theresa May that if there are no US assurances by 4pm on June 13, her decision to go ahead with the extradition of Haroon Aswat, despite a European court ruling blocking his removal, will be quashed.

..

April 10, 2014

DONT WANT ONE

Hook-handed terror suspect: I don’t want plea deal... Conveniently and strangely A mate of mine is moving to New York. If I turn up and wave from the public gallery do you think it might cause consternation?

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April 04, 2014

TERR-R IS COMING

Red alert: New York cops fear hate preacher Abu Hamza's trial could spark more terror  

...One-eyed Hamza, who was extradited to the US from Britain in 2012, will appear in court next week in New York, and the city’s authorities fear another al-Qaida attack to coincide with the trial. Security services including the CIA are said to have picked up a high level of “internet chatter” among Islamic extremists. Rebecca Weiner, security chief for the NYPD, said: “We are attuned to the possibility that his upcoming trial may inspire more terror.” 

 She called Hamza, 55, a “star” among jihadists and said he had “helped radicalise dozens of individuals in both the UK and the US who went on to engage in terrorist acts”... 

...John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence also said officers in the city, where al-Qaida destroyed the Twin Towers in 2001, were on high alert but had yet to identify any “specific” threat. 

Last month Hamza, 55, was branded a “terrorist leader of global reach” by the US government. Prosecutors said he was so dangerous they wanted jurors to have armed guards...

They forgot to mention that coincidentally or not coincidentally the 7/7 bombing happened a day into his trial in the UK.

...

March 01, 2014

WE ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM MR H

Cleric plans to testify in NY trial NEW YORK — Islamist cleric Abu Hamza Al-Masri plans to testify in his own defense at his trial on terrorism charges in New York in April, according to a letter to the judge overseeing his case. In a five-page hand-written letter made public on Thursday, Al-Masri told US District Judge Katherine Forrest he was “surprised” no one had told her of his plans. Al-Masri also wrote that, when he testifies, he does not want to exclude mention of any person, organization or place referred to in his indictment, saying it would be “impossible” to provide a coherent account otherwise. The judge said in an order on Thursday that she planned to discuss the letter at a hearing on Friday. Joshua Dratel, a lawyer for Al-Masri, declined to comment. Representatives for Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara did not respond to requests for comment. – Reuters ..

February 04, 2014

SUPERGRASS

...An al Qaeda supergrass is to give evidence against hate preacher Abu Hamza and show he was a 'terrorist with a global reach'. British-born Saajid Muhammad Badat will be the star witness when Hamza goes on trial in New York later this year, according to court papers. Badat, who was jailed for plotting to blow up a U.S. passenger jet with shoe bomber Richard Reid and later released for agreeing to become the first terrorist supergrass, has agreed to give evidence via a video link

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January 29, 2014

AND A BIT MORE HAMZA

...According to the indictment, Abu Hamza conspired with others in December 1998 to take a group of Western tourists hostage in Yemen. The indictment explains: “On or about December 28, 1998, the hostage-takers stormed a caravan of sport utility vehicles carrying sixteen Western tourists and took the tourists hostage by use of force.” The Yemeni military then attempted to rescue the hostages, at which point the “hostage takers used the hostages as human shields and attempted to fight off the Yemeni military,” according to the indictment. Four hostages were killed and several wounded in the ensuing combat. The indictment goes on to allege that Hamza conspired with others and provided material support for a “violent jihad training camp” in Oregon. These efforts included, among other things, the stockpiling of weapons and ammunition within the US. The indictment goes on to allege that Abu Hamza’s two co-defendants Oussama Abdullah Kassir and Haroom Rashid Aswat travelled to Bly, Oregon – telling individuals there that “they had been sent there by [Abu Hamza] to train people for jihad and to assess the suitability of the Bly, Oregon property for a Jihad training camp. [Kassir and Aswat] also both told individuals at the property that they supported Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda, and had received their own jihad training in Afghanistan.” The indictment further alleges in part that Abu Hamza provided and concealed material support and resources to terrorists facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan, and that Abu Hamza conspired to supply goods and services to the Taliban in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)...

 ...

January 18, 2014

MORE ATILLA

Atilla talking on Salafimedia about his court case. This is the first time I have seen Atilla preach since Finsbury park. Is this "hate speech"? Tell me. This is media they are controlling themselves through Salafi Media.