Joe Biden must tell hate preacher Abu Hamza to abandon hope of return to Britain

IT should surprise no-one that hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri is pleading to come back from his tough US jail  – but, put simply, the Americans must tell him to abandon all hope of an escape to a softer regime.

Life for the notorious Islamist firebrand inside the US high security prison will have been a shock after the soft-soap treatment he received in the UK, where his dangerous preaching was indulged for years.

Conditions at the bleak ADX Florence fortress in Fremont, Colorado, where Hamza was locked up after being sentenced to life without parole are a far cry from what he is used to here.

It is a measure of the danger he poses that the US sent him to the jail reserved for its most dangerous prisoners, many moved there after murdering their guards.

Nobody has ever escaped the 35-acre site where inmates spend 23 hours a day in 12ft by 7ft cells guarded by 12ft high razor wire fences, laser-beams, pressure pads and attack dogs.

I have no doubt he hankers after a return to the days when he was allowed to preach freely in London, turning vulnerable youngsters into acolytes hellbent on murder and destruction.

It was clear that the UK failed to recognise the horrific damage he caused to the country for almost a decade, giving him far too much freedom to spread his dangerous ideology.

Despite being listed as a terrorist associate by the UN in the early 2000s, Hamza – who says he lost an eye and both hands while experimenting with explosives, and must now use hooks instead - carried on preaching openly for several years, hailing al-Qaeda’s attack on the Twin Towers and grooming followers.

Were he to return here the simple truth is that even with our talented security services and counter-terrorism police monitoring him, we are not as safe as if he were behind bars.

Sir Ivor Roberts

He wasn’t stopped even when a raid in 2003 discovered weapons and hundreds of suspected forged or stolen identity documents and credit cards in his Finsbury Park mosque.

He’s been vocal in his support for ISIS’ creation of a caliphate and for Osama bin Laden.

There is supreme irony in a man who inspired young Islamist radicals to carry out terrorist atrocities allegedly complaining that confiscation of items such as his electric toothbrush amount to a “death sentence”.

Egyptian-born Hamza will know that bin Laden’s former spin doctor Adel Abdel-Bary is already back here after winning a US appeal last month using the feeble excuse that he was at high risk of contracting Covid-19 because of his obesity.

Hamza will also be aware that despite his grim terrorist past, Abdel-Bary - who plotted blasts that killed more than 200 - is now living in a £1m house with his family racking up a £400,000+ taxpayer bill for monitoring by MI5 and counter-terrorist police.

So we can’t be surprised that he is now playing the same card, claiming his self-inflicted disabilities mean he too is vulnerable to the disease.

The necessary 24/7 monitoring required to protect us puts added strain on our stretched security services and counter-terrorism police.

And the very fact that Abdel-Bary is back on the streets sends an undesirable message to those who might be tempted to follow.

As far as Hamza is concerned, America’s justice system should be left under no illusion that the safest place for him to stay is behind bars in their tough jail system. Sending him home puts the whole Western world in danger.

Were he to return here the simple truth is that even with our talented security services and counter-terrorism police monitoring him, we are not as safe as if he were behind bars.

And America’s punishment seems to fit the crime in his case.

In 2006 he was jailed for just seven years at the Old Bailey after being convicted of soliciting to murder and inciting to stir up racial hatred.

Abu Hamza made his bed, and now he must be made to lie in it. Unfortunately for him, at ADX Florence supermax that bed – just like the desk and stool that also furnish his tiny cell – is made from cold, unforgiving concrete.

Sir Ivor Roberts

This despite Mr Justice Hughes telling him: "You used your authority to legitimise anger and gave rise to a duty to murder; you encouraged them to kill in the cases which you set out for them; you helped to create an atmosphere in which to kill has become regarded by so many as not only a legitimate course but a moral and religious duty in pursuit of perceived justice."

By contrast, in 2012 following extradition to the US upon release, he was convicted in a New York court of 11 terrorism-related charges and sentenced to life without parole.

The UK has consistently failed to appreciate the damage and destruction Abu Hamza caused worldwide.

In the eight-plus years since he was extradited, he has not shown any remorse and there is nothing to indicate he has softened his extremist views.

We would be delusional to think that he will ever change. All we can do is prevent him from spreading a message of death and destruction, and protect ourselves.

Our security services and counter-terrorism do an incredible job keeping us safe.

Their work is necessarily secretive and most of the time we remain mercifully unaware of the many plots they foil.

But they are already overstretched by the threat from Islamists and far-right extremists, and the last thing they need is another high priority figure to keep watch on.

Flying Hamza back to the UK will divert precious resources best spent counteracting other emerging threats.

I am pleased that US prosecutors are opposing his release.

We must hope that common sense prevails and they succeed. For the public in the US and the UK, the ADX Florence penitentiary is the safest place for him to be.

Abu Hamza made his bed, and now he must be made to lie in it.

Unfortunately for him, at ADX Florence supermax that bed – just like the desk and stool that also furnish his tiny cell – is made from cold, unforgiving concrete.