Hamza Held on Uk Terror Charges

The radical cleric Abu Hamza was yesterday arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences by British police, while in a London jail awaiting extradition to the United States.

Mr Hamza, 46, has been held since May in the top security Belmarsh prison after the US asked for his arrest on suspicion of terrorist offences in America and Yemen.

Yesterday's arrest by Scotland Yard is believed to centre on suspected offences committed in this country. They are not thought to involve a direct plot to attack the UK, but rather the suspicion of providing support to terrorists, either through recruitment, finance or logistics.

A counter-terrorism source told the Guardian the arrest was not linked to a series of raids a fortnight ago that saw eight people charged with terrorism offences.

Detectives are also investigating whether controversial sermons by the former imam of the Finsbury Park mosque in north London had encouraged or inspired others to commit terrorist acts.

If Mr Hamza is charged, the case in Britain will take precedence over the US demand that he be extradited to stand trial there.

Before his detention in May Mr Hamza had been the target of a tabloid newspaper campaign demanding his prosecution and removal from the UK.

Mr Hamza's lawyers said their client's health had deteriorated since his arrest. They are expected to file a request for bail, saying prison is no place for a disabled man.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said a man, who has not been named but is believed to be Mr Hamza, was arrested "in the London area" yesterday.

He was held under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Mr Hamza was taken to the high security Paddington Green station, where he was being questioned by detectives from the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorist squad.

The Met spokesman said yesterday's arrest was "part of separate, UK domestic inquiries". Mr Hamza can initially be held for 48 hours under the act, then, if permission is granted by a magistrate, for up to 14 days.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said the extradition proceedings against Mr Hamza would be adjourned until the British case was resolved.

But Julian Knowles, a barrister and extradition expert, said the US would get its man: "I would be very surprised if anything were to happen in the English criminal proceedings that would interrupt the US extradition request. Experience shows that when the US wants a suspect, every other country comes second."

America alleges Mr Hamza has been in contact with high-ranking Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists, and assisted militants who took 16 western tourists hostage in Yemen in December 1998.

He is also charged with attempting to set up a training camp for "violent jihad" in Oregon in 1999, and sending one of his followers to an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan.

One of these supporters is said to be Briton Feroz Abbasi, a former worshipper at the mosque. He is now held in Guantánamo Bay.

At a July hearing of the extradition case, James Lewis QC, representing the American government, said Mr Hamza was "a member of a global conspiracy to wage jihad against the United States and other countries".

In March 1999 Mr Hamza was arrested for terrorism offences, but released after questioning by British police.