THE TELEGRAPH: Radical cleric Abu Hamza, who is fighting attempts to strip him of his British passport, has claimed he was rejected by his home country of Egypt after moving to the UK.The Home Office wants to remove Hamza’s British nationality so that he can eventually be deported.
But the controversial preacher has claimed doing so would breach his human rights as it would leave him stateless.
Lawyers for Hamza told a Special Immigration Appeals Commission that the Egyptian authorities effectively removed his nationality when he became a British citizen in 1986.
They said his status was confirmed after he publicly criticised the Cairo government and was then arrested on terror charges in Britain.
The Egyptian authorities have said they are unable to answer Home Office inquiries as to whether Hamza is still regarded as an Egyptian national.
Hamza told the hearing: “It is not the habit of the Egyptian government to respond to anything,” but he added that he was certain he had been stripped of his citizenship. Abu Hamza claims removing his British citizenship would leave him stateless >>> Martin Evans | Wednesday, October 20, 2010
