The radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza is now confronting the possibility of a life sentence in an American prison following his conviction on terrorism and kidnapping charges yesterday in New York.
The cleric, who fought his extradition from Britain for 8 years, was found guilty of all eleven charges that he faced…..after the prosecution successfully argued that he turned the Finsbury Park Mosque in London into a base of operations for the global export of terror.
Our US correspondent Simon Marks reports.
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It was always going to be a longshot, but in the end the Nelson Mandela defense didn't work.
Abu Hamza's attorneys tried to draw a parallel between the late South African President and the cleric who once delivered fiery sermons at the Finsbury Park Mosque.
Both, argued the defense, were freedom fighters accused falsely of being terrorists.
Both were "independent thinkers", not criminally-minded extremists.
The jury didn't buy it.
After a day and a half of deliberations, Abu Hamza was convicted on all charges.
His defense attorney Joshua Dratel said the verdict was unjust.
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But jurors embraced the prosecution argument….that Abu Hamza used the Finsbury Park Mosque as the base of operations for a global terrorism campaign.
He was convicted of masterminding the kidnapping of 16 western tourists in Yemen….of planning to build an Al Qaeda training camp in the American state of Oregon…and of sending recruits to fight in Afghanistan.
New Zealand scientist Mary Quin, who was among the westerners kidnapped by Abu Hamza, testified against him at trial.
And the US Government offered protection to a number of other witnesses who offered evidence on the prosecution's behalf.
The verdict was a victory for Manhattan's District Attorney Preet Bhahara.
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Abu Hamza plans to appeal the verdict, which leaves him facing a life sentence in a US jail.
The guilty verdict is being celebrated by the authorities in New York who earlier this year secured a conviction against Osama bin Laden's son in law.
And politically, the jury's verdict helps President Obama…who can point to both trials as evidence that the US criminal justice system can handle complex terrorism cases….another reason, he says, to close the detention center in Guantanamo Bay.
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