Hamza sent emails from Belmarsh prison
By Jason Lewis
American counter-terrorism chiefs are demanding a full explanation from Britain of how radical cleric Abu Hamza was able to smuggle murderous messages from his UK prison cell to Al Qaeda's deputy leader.
The major diplomatic row comes in the wake of a long-running battle by US prosecutors to extradite the former imam of London's Finsbury Park mosque to stand trial in America.
Hook-handed Hamza was jailed for seven years in Britain in 2006 for inciting murder and racial hatred and is held at Belmarsh prison, South-East London, supposedly one of Britain's most secure jails.
But according to senior American intelligence sources, Hamza evaded the extensive security measures surrounding him to send a series of questions to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man.
Al-Zawahiri is believed to be hiding with Bin Laden in the lawless mountain region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Late last year, Al-Zawahiri - who has a £13million bounty on his head - posted a message on an extremist website run by Al Qaeda saying he would answer questions on any topic.
US intelligence tracked all the email replies and among them were messages from Abu Hamza. It is understood they were sent from an email address known to be linked to the cleric.
The sources say they have no doubt that al-Zawahiri was personally involved in answering the questions and that those posed by Hamza had genuinely originated from him. Read more ...
American counter-terrorism chiefs are demanding a full explanation from Britain of how radical cleric Abu Hamza was able to smuggle murderous messages from his UK prison cell to Al Qaeda's deputy leader.
The major diplomatic row comes in the wake of a long-running battle by US prosecutors to extradite the former imam of London's Finsbury Park mosque to stand trial in America.
Hook-handed Hamza was jailed for seven years in Britain in 2006 for inciting murder and racial hatred and is held at Belmarsh prison, South-East London, supposedly one of Britain's most secure jails.
But according to senior American intelligence sources, Hamza evaded the extensive security measures surrounding him to send a series of questions to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man.
Al-Zawahiri is believed to be hiding with Bin Laden in the lawless mountain region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Late last year, Al-Zawahiri - who has a £13million bounty on his head - posted a message on an extremist website run by Al Qaeda saying he would answer questions on any topic.
US intelligence tracked all the email replies and among them were messages from Abu Hamza. It is understood they were sent from an email address known to be linked to the cleric.
The sources say they have no doubt that al-Zawahiri was personally involved in answering the questions and that those posed by Hamza had genuinely originated from him. Read more ...
Source: Daily Mail
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