Race-hate preacher is deported from Britain

The Independent, UK/May 26, 2007
By David Barrett

Abdullah al-Faisal, who influenced one of the July 7 bombers, has been deported from Britain.

The Home Secretary, John Reid, welcomed the removal of the Jamaican convert to Islam, who was placed on a flight to Kingston just after midday yesterday. Mr Reid said Mr Al-Faisal would be excluded from the UK.

The Government's official account of the 2005 London bombings said the cleric had a strong influence on Germaine Lindsay, who blew up a Tube train at King's Cross, killing 26 people.

Mr Reid said: "I am pleased Abdullah al-Faisal has been removed and excluded from the UK. We are committed to protecting the public and have made it clear that foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality and break our laws can expect to be deported after they have served a prison sentence. We will not tolerate those who seek to spread hate and fear in our communities."

Mr Al-Faisal was deported after reaching the parole date in a seven-year sentence for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.

Mr Reid added: "We will continue to prioritise the deportation of foreign national prisoners, having removed over 3,000 in the last year, as well as others whose presence in this country is non-conducive to the public good."

The 43-year-old Muslim preacher, who used to live in Stratford, east London, was found guilty at the Old Bailey in 2003 of three charges of soliciting murder and three charges of stirring up racial hatred.

He told young British Muslims it was their duty to kill non-believers, urging them to adopt a "jihad mentality". He promised schoolboys they would be rewarded with "72 virgins in paradise" if they died in a holy war.

Lindsay, who was also Jamaican-born, is believed to have attended at least one of Mr Al-Faisal's lectures and to have listened to tapes of other sermons by him.

Mr Al-Faisal's prosecution was the first of its kind in more than 100 years under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.