Here is Why London Was Bombed

Trial for Egyptian-born radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri opens in London


LONDON (AP) - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri went on trial in London on Tuesday on charges that include encouraging the murder of Jews and other non-Muslims.

The first session was taken up with legal arguments that were expected to continue all week. Court orders forbid any reporting of the arguments.

Al-Masri, wearing a blue smock and with neatly trimmed grey hair and a beard, was surrounded by four guards as he stood in the dock at the Central Criminal Court.

British prosecutors charged al-Masri, Britain's highest-profile Islamic radical, on Oct. 19, pre-empting a U.S. bid to extradite him on terrorism-related charges.

Under British law the domestic charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, take precedence over the extradition case.

The Egyptian-born cleric - who has one eye and hooks for hands, which he says were lost fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s - was arrested in May after U.S. authorities charged him with trying to establish a terrorist training camp in the western U.S. state of Oregon, involvement in hostage-taking in Yemen and funding terrorism training in Afghanistan.

The United States plans to resume the extradition case once he is convicted or cleared of the British charges.