London
The British government revoked the citizenship of Sheikh Abu Hamza, the one-eyed, hook-handed radical cleric who preached jihad in British mosques and called on Muslims to follow Osama bin Laden. Hamza was the first casualty of a new British law that allows dual nationals who have acted against British interests to be stripped of their British passports. “If you encourage, support, advise, help people to take up training” in jihad against Britain, said Home Secretary David Blunkett, “then, of course, that takes you right over the boundary.” Blunkett hopes to deport Hamza, but if the sheikh appeals, the court battle could drag on for years.
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