Public pays for luxury life of cleric who preaches hatred

Bakri, whose flight to Beirut at the weekend after learning he may face incitement charges sparked a political row, said that he is to undergo a procedure in November or December to widen an artery.

The news has re-ignited the already heated debate over the fate of the Syrian-born cleric, who said that he would not tell police if he knew Muslims who were planning suicide bombings and reportedly described the 7 July bombers as "the fantastic four".

It is understood Bakri - who is not a British citizen but who has been granted "indefinite leave to remain" - plans to return to continue his treatment at a London hospital. He travelled to Beirut on a Lebanese passport.

Tory spokesman Patrick Mercer said: "This is absolutely extraordinary. Here is a man who has bitten the hand that feeds him. It is precisely the sort of nonsense against which we must legislate. This is why the government very sensibly said the laws must be reviewed and why the Conservative party is supporting the government."

Edward Garnier, the shadow home affairs minister, said that the government should look carefully at whether to allow him back into the UK.

"If he has a heart condition that requires treatment, there are excellent hospitals in Beirut which should be able to provide him with it," he said. "If his sole reason for coming back to Britain is to have a heart operation on the NHS, I hope the Home Office will take this into consideration when they decide whether to let him back in."

Mr Bakri, a father of seven, has a wife and family in Britain, where he has lived since 1985.

However, any decision to ban him would have to take into account his medical treatment.

Last night, the central issue of whether the Home Secretary could or would ban him was far from clear.

After reports that Bakri and two other radical clerics could face treason charges, the director of public prosecutions, Ken MacDonald, QC, said yesterday that no such charges were ever planned. He said that the Crown Prosecution Service were examining remarks made by Bakri and two others to see if there had been a breach of current law. Possible offences being looked at centre on solicitation to murder and acts relating to the withholding of information under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Eric Joyce, Labour MP for Falkirk, said: "If somebody is entitled to live in the UK, then they have the right to use the health service. However, the vital question is whether that person is a desirable person to have in the UK and whether they are entitled to be here in the first place. That is a matter for the Home Office to decide."

Last week, Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, launched an urgent consultation into broadening his exclusion or deportation powers. But those plans were challenged by opposition parties last night, after it emerged that the Home Secretary already has powers to ban foreign extremists from Britain.

Michael Howard, the Tory leader, revealed that when he had been Home Secretary, he had the power to exclude anyone deemed to be "not conducive to the public good". He urged Charles Clarke to use this power "without delay" to block Bakri from Britain.

Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat president, said ministers would have to make a case for the extension of powers.

"We will listen sympathetically but government should only have the powers that they really need, not the powers that popular opinion needs."

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed that there were at least three ways that someone like Bakri could be prevented from returning to Britain.

As a foreign national, he could have his "indefinite leave to remain" rescinded. Religious leaders and opposition parties are being consulted on an extension of this power and of what behaviour would be unacceptable.

If a person was the member of a group thought to be contravening British laws, the group could be proscribed as a banned terrorist organisation. There are 25 such groups, but last Friday, Tony Blair suggested adding others to the list, including al-Muhajiroun, the extremist group founded by Mr Bakri, which he has since claimed has disbanded.

The third option would be to exclude someone who was deemed "not conducive to the public good". These powers have been applied to those who break the law or commit a terrorist act, but they can be used on those who indirectly encourage others to act and include expressing views which justify or glorify terrorism.

Fourteen people were excluded from the UK on these grounds in 2004.

Before flying to Lebanon, Bakri said he had high blood pressure and was due to undergo a coronary angioplasty - which involves inserting a balloon into an artery and inflating it to improve circulation.

His condition is said to be exacerbated by his weight, itself problematic because of an ankle injury which makes him unable to exercise and keeps him on incapacity benefit. It is understood he is to be treated at St Thomas' Hospital and at North Middlesex Hospital. If done privately the procedure would cost around 7,500.

Anjem Choudary, a close friend of Bakri, said: "He had an appointment for a heart operation at some point. He had appointments before but he missed them - he doesn't like to take medicine, he likes to recover naturally."

200,000 home, a car and health care

SINCE he arrived in Britain in 1985, Omar Bakri Moham-med is not thought to have worked and is believed to have received a total of 275,000 in state benefits.

He lives in a 200,000 council house in Edmonton, north London, and receives 300 a week in state benefits, including incapacity benefit.

He is also granted full use of the National Health Service.

The father of seven, who uses a walking stick, drives around in a 31,000 Ford Galaxy people carrier. He said he qualified for a disability scheme, the Motability scheme, that would help pay for leasing it for three years. He would have had to put down a deposit of 7,000 himself.

His weekly 42.30 disability allowance will be sent directly to Motability for the period of the lease.

Mr Bakri injured his leg as a child and is registered disabled.

It is thought his payments are paid to him under the name Omar BM Fostok.

'Ayatollah' who enbraces violence

NICKNAMED the "Tottenham Ayatollah" after his firebrand style and the north London area where he lives, Omar Bakri Mohammed is one of Britain's most vocal proponents of radical Islamism.

Famously outspoken, with extreme views, he was never taken very seriously by the authorities until the 2001 terror attacks in New York changed the political landscape.

But when the spotlight shifted to radical preachers and their influence on young Muslims, it was found that the preachings of Sheik Bakri Mohammed, both on the internet and at his offices on an industrial estate in Tottenham, were encouraging young men to go to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Kashmir and to fight jihad, or holy war.

In 2003, two of the cleric's followers, Omar Sharif, from Derby, and Asi Hanif, from Hounslow, died in Tel Aviv after taking part in a Hamas suicide bombing of a seafront bar.

Born Omar Bakri Fostock, in Alepps, Syria, he studied Islam in Cairo and became involved in the Syrian branch of the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

He arrived in Britain in 1985, having been expelled from Saudi Arabia. He claimed asylum and was granted indefinite leave to remain, because of the risk of political persecution if deported. He lost no time in establishing the British branch of Hizb-ut-Tahrir - a political group which Prime Minister Tony Blair has spoken of banning, and preached radical sermons opposing Israel. The cleric targeted universities before the group was banned from many campuses. In 1991, he was arrested and questioned for suggesting John Major, the then prime minister, was a legitimate target for assassination.

Ideological differences led him to quit Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 1996, a fact that its current leaders are keen to point out.

He then founded al-Muhajiroun, (the emigrants), an extremist organisation which he has recently claimed he has disbanded, but it has been reported that his followers have simply formed new sects.

Sheikh Bakri Mohammed has been reported to the authorities a number of times in recent years but has never been charged under incitement legislation. The problem for any potential prosecution is that radical Islamists choose their words very carefully.

In January, the Times discovered an internet chatroom being used by him to preach sermons directly to followers in their homes. In one talk, he said Britain was "a land of war" and that the "covenant of security" that prevented Muslims attacking Britain was at an end.

He said Muslims should fight jihad and join al-Qaeda.

In 2003, his al-Muhajiroun organisation held a conference entitled "The Magnificent 19" in praise of the 9/11 hijackers.

A report on the cleric is with the Crown Prosecution Service. No action has yet been taken.

KAREN MCVEIGH