British Cleric is Convicted in Terror Trial

Visit our News page BRITISH CLERIC IS CONVICTED IN TERROR TRIAL A notorious jihadist is finally being brought to justice. During the trial of Mostafa Kamel Mostafa (also known as Abu Hamza), prosecutor Ian McGinley stated that Mr. Mostafa’s “words mattered” because “they match his actions…they match his crimes.” This statement should be applied not only to Mr. Mostafa, but also to jihadists worldwide. From the Muslim Brotherhood, to Al-Qaeda, to Boko Haram to Al-Shabaab – those who kill in the name of Allah are always crystal clear in their verbiage about their goals and objectives. The question is not what are their intentions, but when will we all finally believe them? British Cleric Is Convicted in Terror Trial By BENJAMIN WEISER http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/nyregion/british-cleric-is-convicted-in-terror-trial.html?emc=edit_na_20140519&nlid=47305233&_r=0 The fiery British cleric who prosecutors said had “devoted his life to violent jihad” and had dispatched young men around the world to train and fight was convicted of 11 terrorism-related charges on Monday in Manhattan. Prosecutors had charged that the cleric, Mostafa Kamel Mostafa, a former imam at the Finsbury Park mosque in North London, helped to orchestrate the violent 1998 kidnappings of 16 American, British and Australian tourists in Yemen; had tried to create a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore.; and had supported terrorism by sending one of his followers to train with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. In the tourist abductions, four hostages were killed after their captors, a militant group allied with Mr. Mostafa, used them as shields during a Yemeni rescue operation. “He jumped at opportunities across the globe to support this violent jihad,” a prosecutor, Ian McGinley, told the jury in a closing argument on Wednesday. The verdict, which came on the jury’s second day of deliberations in Federal District Court, marked the end of a lengthy legal battle to bring Mr. Mostafa to trial. Arrested in London in 2004 after the United States requested his extradition, Mr. Mostafa was tried and convicted in Britain in 2006 on separate charges, of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred. He served a prison sentence, and after fighting extradition unsuccessfully, he was sent in 2012 to the United States to face terrorism charges in New York. Mostafa Kamel Mostafa, who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, could face life in prison. Credit Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Last week, Mr. Mostafa took the witness stand in his own defense, and testified over several days, denying that he had played a role in the kidnappings, the planning of the training camp in Oregon or that he had dispatched followers to assist Al Qaeda. His lawyers argued that the government’s case was based on their client’s words, “not his deeds.” Prosecutors had introduced statements by Mr. Mostafa, in which he spoke approvingly of Al Qaeda’s 2000 bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen, called Osama bin Laden “a hero” and said “everybody was happy when the planes hit the World Trade Center.” But prosecutors tied Mr. Mostafa, 56, to the kidnappings through what they said were admissions he made in an interview with one of the rescued hostages, and records showing Mr. Mostafa had received calls on a satellite phone he had provided to the militants the day before the hostage-taking and after it was underway. Mr. Mostafa’s words mattered, Mr. McGinley told the jury, because “they match his actions. They match his crimes. They’re exactly what you would expect from a man who was so proud and so public about jihad.” The Egyptian-born Mr. Mostafa, who is also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, could face life in prison when he is sentenced by the judge, Katherine B. Forrest of United States District Court. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT for America P.O. Box 12765 Pensacola, FL 32591 www.actforamerica.org ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. 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