Judge Anthony Hughes at London's Central Criminal Court told the former imam of the Finsbury Park mosque that his speeches had endangered people around the world. The mosque -- described by the head of London's Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism unit Peter Clarke as a "honey pot for extremists" -- was attended by Sept. 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

Moussaoui pleaded guilty last year to plotting with al-Qaida to fly planes into U.S. buildings. Reid was convicted of attempting to blow up an American Airlines flight in 2001 with a shoe bomb.

"You helped to create an atmosphere in which to kill has become regarded by some as not only a legitimate course but as a moral and religious duty in pursuit of perceived justice," the judge told al-Masri.

He has been charged in the United States on an 11-count indictment with trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon, conspiring to take hostages in Yemen and facilitating terrorist training in Afghanistan.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 18, 2006
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