January 29, 2003

Abu Hamza faces deportation over bigamous marriage

BU HAMZA AL-MASRI, the controversial imam of Finsbury Park mosque, faces possible deportation after the disclosure yesterday that his British citizenship is based upon a bigamous marriage.

The Egyptian-born cleric was granted the right to remain in the UK after he married Valerie Traverso, a young Englishwoman, in May 1980. However, inquiries by The Times have established that Ms Traverso was already married, and not divorced by her first husband until July 1982. That means the marriage is void, according to family law experts, and Abu Hamza could be stripped of his citizenship.

The Home Office has long been frustrated at its inability to deport the one-eyed, hook-handed imam who has spoken out in support of the September 11 attackers. Last night officials were examining the details of his bigamous marriage.

What a liar and a scumbag!
I'm sure he regarded his secular British "marriage" to this woman a sacrilege to Islam and a fraud anyway, being such a *holy man*.
Acquiring British citizenship was important to him not only for the legal protections it's giving him now, but also for the generous welfare checks he's received from British taxpayers:
in this story, also in The Times and also about Abu Hamza, we find the following juicy morsel:

Abu Hamza lives in Shepherd?s Bush, West London, where he is thought to have been paid £100,000 in welfare benefits over the past three years, including three types of disability payments, income support, housing benefit and help with fuel bills.

Deport him, Britain!
You know you want to!
And you'll sleep a lot better at night, as will we Yanks, knowing this terror master isn't at large to spread his hate in the West in ease and comfort on John Bull's largesse!
[I will never forget MSNBC's Ashley Banfield interviewing this dirt bag back in the spring as if he were Mel Gibson!]