BRITAIN: A British-based cleric on trial for preaching murder and hatred of non-Muslims wanted a world dominated by an Islamic ruler in the White House, a London court heard yesterday.
Abu Hamza al-Masri (47) possessed a manual which explained how to make explosives and gave detailed instructions on assassination methods, prosecutor David Perry said.
Mr Hamza 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 September 11th, 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.
Mr 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 Sheikh Abu Hamza was preaching murder and hatred in these talks," Mr Perry told the Old Bailey court.
"He makes calls for a world dominated by a caliph [ Muslim ruler], sitting, as he puts it, in the White House," Mr 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," Mr Perry said.
Mr Hamza faces nine counts of using public meetings to incite his followers to kill non-Muslims and four other counts of urging the killing of Jews.
He is also accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour 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.
Mr Hamza has denied all the charges. The judge specifically instructed the jury not to search on the internet for past stories about him, saying the cleric had been the recipient of much critical media coverage in the past.
The accusations relate to nine video and audio tapes, made between late 1997 and October 2000, which were seized when Mr Hamza was arrested on May 27th, 2004.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.