Egyptian-born imam Abu Hamza al-Masri has
been sentenced to life in prison after being
found guilty of terrorism charges last year.
The sentence was handed down in a US
District Court in New York on Friday.
Abu Hamza was found guilty last May of
providing a satellite phone and advice to a
group of Yemeni fighters who kidnapped
Western tourists in 1998.
Four of the hostages were killed during a
rescue mission by Yemen's army.
He was also convicted of trying to help a US
government informant establish a training
camp in the state of Oregon and providing
material support to al-Qaeda.
Prosecutors had called for a life sentence for
a man they called a "global terrorist leader
who orchestrated plots around the world".
Lawyers of Abu Hamza, who was indicted in
the US in 2004 under his birth name -
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa - argued at the trial
that he did not participate in any conspiracy.
They said the government's case rested
largely on the incendiary language he
employed in media interviews and the
sermons he gave at the Finsbury Park mosque
in north London, which earned him notoriety in
the Britain.
Abu Hamza spent eight years in prison in the
UK for inciting violence, before his extradition
in 2012 to the US to face the terrorism
charges.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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