Alleged bomber attended Abu Hamza sermons

Published on Tuesday 22 May 2007 00:16

ONE of the alleged 21 July bombers admitted in court yesterday he had listened to Abu Hamza preach.

Ramzi Mohammed told a jury he went to see the radical cleric deliver sermons outside Finsbury Park Mosque in north London five or six times.

Woolwich Crown Court was shown several surveillance photos allegedly of the so-called Oval bomber at the street preachings in January and August 2004.

Stephen Kamlish, QC, on behalf of co-defendant Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, asked Mohammed: "Was your role at these meetings outside the mosque more of a bystander who knew no-one, or are you slightly more involved than you say?" He replied: "I did go there but I didn't have any role there. I go there for my own interest."

He said he sometimes liked to listen to what Hamza said when he was interviewed by journalists.

Mohammed, of North Kensington, west London, is one of six men accused of plotting to carry out a series of suicide bombings on the London transport system.

The others are Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address; Yassin Omar, 26, of New Southgate, north London; Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London; Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London.

They all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The trial continues.