London cleric gets 'more than life' in New York terror case

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, the one-eyed, hook-handed preacher who delivered incendiary sermons at a London mosque and inspired British would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, was sentenced to "more than life" in prison Friday morning in Lower Manhattan.

Al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, was convicted of terrorism charges in plots to kidnap tourists in Yemen in 1998 and build a terrorist training camp in Oregon. The judge called his actions "barbaric" and "misguided."

His most significant contribution to violent jihad is arguably his fiery rhetoric preached from the pulpit at Finsbury Park Mosque in London. Federal prosecutors said that to him, "violent jihad was not just recommended, it was mandatory."

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Paris shootings committed by two brothers are "the legacy of Abu Hamza" al-Masri. The newspaper says one of brothers -- Cherif -- is a disciple of Djamel Beghal, the alleged recruiter of Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui from the Finsbury Park Mosque. He met Beghal in prison, and they remained close.

There is no evidence that Cherif ever met al-Masri or had any interaction at any point. In fact, the timing under this scenario makes it impossible, since he was arrested in 2004 and Cherif met Beghal after his 2008 arrest. At best, Cherif's thinking could be described as in the legacy of Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Al-Masri made a statement prior to his sentencing, calling for an investigation into "the collapse of the two towers that led to the wars."

Defiant to the end, he also asked the court to consider evidence so the nation doesn't go down the path to another Iraq, where it was said there were WMDs but none were found.

The 56-year-old al-Masri was recently equipped with a new hook, issued by the federal government, to help him eat.

His lawyers had urged the judge to take into account that their client will have a particularly hard time in prison because he is missing hands and forearms and has other ailments.

In court papers, Mustafa's attorneys said he would face unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment if his amputated forearms, psoriasis, diabetes and high blood pressure weren't taken into account at sentencing in Manhattan federal court. They recommended a prison term of less than life.

They told U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest that housing the Mustafa at Colorado's Supermax federal prison, sometimes referred to as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," would violate assurances the United States made to British judges to secure his 2012 extradition to America.

Prosecutors said in court papers Friday that the government never promised the United Kingdom that Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, would not be assigned to Supermax.

Prosecutors also insisted life in prison was the only appropriate sentence, saying that at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, Mustafa worked "tirelessly to drive his young, impressionable followers to participate in acts of violence and murder across the globe."

They said he "openly and unapologetically used the power of his hateful words to distort religion by giving purported religious justification for acts of terrorism."

The government said evidence at trial proved Mustafa's actions went far beyond his words as he helped ensure kidnappers in Yemen had a satellite phone and he gave guidance to the leader of the kidnapping.