Cleric barred from mosque: militant had called astronauts 'evil,' praised 9/11 attack
It's about time that people have recognized Abu Hamza al-Masri for what he is: an ignorant, xenophobic, troglodyte more interested in spreading hate than in representing the "Religion of Peace".
LONDON -- The government Tuesday removed Britain's most outspoken Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza al-Masri, from his post as imam at the Finsbury Park mosque, which the authorities believe is an active recruitment center for violent Islamic radicals.
The Charity Commission's decision to ban al-Masri from preaching at the north London mosque comes a day after he declared that the crew of the Columbia space shuttle -- five Americans, an Indian-born Hindu and an Israeli -- represented a "trinity of evil" punished with death by Allah.
Al-Masri said British Muslims would take it as a "sign from God" that the first Israeli astronaut was killed by a disaster over a town in Texas named Palestine. Days after the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Masri praised the 19 suicide hijackers as martyrs, saying, "Many people will be happy, jumping up and down at this moment."
Al-Masri, a 44-year-old, Egyptian-born, militant Muslim who is wanted in Yemen on terrorism charges, "had used his position within the charity to make inappropriate political statements," the Charity Commission announced.
"The action we have taken today enables the trustees of the North London Central Mosque to govern the charity so that it can do the important work for which it was originally established," John Stoker, the chief charity commissioner, said in a statement.
Since the British government can't ban al-Masri for his hateful, insulting remarks, they are fortunate to have plenty of additional evidence against this troll. Of course, that is not exactly the way al-Masri sees things.
"The reason for banning me is for making political comments against America and Israel," al-Masri said in a telephone interview with Reuters. "The Charity Commission has actually collaborated with the police to close the mosque and actually to hijack the whole mosque."
Whatever. Clearly, al-Masri is not fit for civilized society, and it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Islam that this moron is allowed to be considered a religious authority. So much for the "Religion of Peace", eh?
