Haaretz
Tevet 11,5766
LONDON - Muslim cleric Abu Hamza
al-Masri wanted a caliph sitting in the White House and said Hitler was
sent into the world because Jews were blasphemous and dirty, a London
court heard on Wednesday.
Hamza, 47, is the most high-profile
figure to go on trial in Britain on charges of incitement to murder and
stirring up racial hatred since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Washington
and New York.
Interest in the case has increased since suicide
bombings on London's transport system last July killed 52
people.
Prosecutor David Perry said the Egyptian-born cleric used
public meetings at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London and private
meetings to incite his followers to kill non-Muslims.
"The
prosecution case is, in one sentence, that Sheik Abu Hamza was preaching
murder and hatred in these talks," Perry told the Old Bailey
court.
"He makes calls for a world dominated by a caliph, sitting,
as he puts it, in the White House," Perry said.
"In one of his
lectures, he accused the Jews of being blasphemous, treacherous and dirty.
This, because of their treachery and their blasphemy and their filth, was
why Hitler was sent into the world," Perry said.
Hamza faces nine
counts of using public meetings to incite his followers to kill
non-Muslims and four other charges that he urged the killing of
Jews.
He is also accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting
behavior with intent to stir up racial hatred, along with one charge of
possessing threatening, abusive or insulting sound recordings, and another
count under anti-terrorism laws.
Hamza has denied all the
charges.
Video tapes
The charges relate to nine video
tapes seized when Hamza was arrested on May 27, 2004. Eight were at his
home and one was at another address. The tapes were among 2,700 audio and
570 video tapes seized.
The first recording the jury were to hear,
Perry said, was made at what the prosecution believed to be a private
meeting in Whitechapel, east London, in 1997 or 1998.
"The
defendant says that Muslims living in this country are living in a toilet
-- they are living like animals," Perry said. "He calls on his audience to
sacrifice themselves in order to establish the caliphate."
Perry
said Hamza also had in his possession "The Encyclopedia of Afghani Jihad"
that ran for 10 volumes.
"It was a manual that would assist any
person who was likely to be involved in the preparation or actual carrying
out of terrorism activity," he added.
He said the manual explained
how to make explosives and gave detailed instructions on assassination
methods.
Perry told the jury they would hear how Hamza told his
followers it was their "religious duty to fight in the cause of Allah,
God."
The prosecutor said Hamza had frequently made clear that
leaders of Arab nations who were friendly to the West and Israel were
legitimate targets.
Perry said he criticized Saudi Arabia as a
country "that has been stolen by an evil family", a reference to the Saudi
royal family.
"The real reason he criticizes that country is
because it has links with the United States and links with Europe," Perry
said.
If found guilty, Hamza, who has lost both hands and an eye,
faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The trial is expected
to last three weeks.