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===1997β2003: Under Abu Hamza al-Masri=== {{Main|Abu Hamza al-Masri}} [[File:Finsbury Park Mosque Dome.jpg|thumb|250px|The interior of the dome inside the North London Central Mosque]] The mosque rose to notoriety after [[Abu Hamza al-Masri]] became its imam in 1997.<ref name="Abu Hamza profile" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/finsbury-park-mosque-emerging-from-the-shadow-of-abu-hamza-9428300.html|author=Charlotte Philby|title=Finsbury Park Mosque: Emerging from the shadow of Abu Hamza|date=23 May 2014|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=27 August 2017|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612170837/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/finsbury-park-mosque-emerging-from-the-shadow-of-abu-hamza-9428300.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he consolidated his control of the mosque, with his followers preventing anyone they did not trust from entering it.<ref name="Abu Hamza profile">[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11701269 Abu Hamza profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616083534/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11701269 |date=16 June 2018 }}, BBC News (January 9, 2015).</ref>In March,13,1998,a rally was held in London for the 'Kosovo Jihad' and was allegedly backed by over 50 Islamic groups including the [[Taliban]] and [[Hamas]].At the same time the Islamic soceity of London led by a Kosovar-Albanian Sheik Muhammad Stubla who was lobbying and gathering money for the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]] using donations from muslims attending the mosque<ref>https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Coming_Balkan_Caliphate.html?id=BarOEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_entity&hl=en&gl=GB&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>.According to the mosque's current administration, although originally appointed by the trustees, Abu Hamza gradually took over the mosque from them.<ref name=MoreThanJustAMosque /> When the mosque's trustees asked him to leave, they allege that he resorted to intimidation.<ref name= Hijacked /> In October 1998, the trustees went to the High Court to stop Abu Hamza from preaching at the mosque.<ref name=Hijacked>{{cite news|title=A haven for faithful hijacked by extremists|url=https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/a-haven-for-faithful-hijacked-by-extremists-dshlnsvmkhc|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=14 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214071529/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-haven-for-faithful-hijacked-by-extremists-dshlnsvmkhc|url-status=live}}</ref> They were granted an injunction, but it was not enforced. Many trustees reported being barred from their own mosque by Abu Hamza's supporters and even being assaulted.<ref name= Hijacked /> In April 2002, the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales]] suspended Abu Hamza from preaching,<ref name= Hijacked /> but he continued anyway.<ref name=Telegraph /> [[Djamel Beghal]] used the mosque as his "base," as he planned a foiled [[2001 attack U.S. Embassy Paris plot|2001 suicide bombing of the American Embassy in Paris]].<ref name="RotellaTraining">{{cite news|last1=Rotella|first1=Sebastian|title=Embassy plot offers insight into terrorist recruitment, training|work=Chicago Tribune|date=22 October 2001}}</ref><ref name="RaynerBeghal">{{cite news|last1=Rayner|first1=Gordon|title=Charlie Hebdo suspect 'mentored' by Abu Hamza disciple, Djamal Beghal|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11333776/Charlie-Hebdo-suspect-mentored-by-Abu-Hamza-disciple.html|access-date=13 December 2017|work=Telegraph|date=8 January 2015|archive-date=25 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225231828/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11333776/Charlie-Hebdo-suspect-mentored-by-Abu-Hamza-disciple.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During Abu Hamza's control, the mosque's attendance dropped.<ref name=MoreThanJustAMosque /><ref name=debating>{{cite book|title=Debating the War of Ideas |author=J. Gallagher |author2=E. Patterson|pages=213β214|year=2009}}</ref> Most of the attendees were his followers. The mosque also became a meeting point for many radical Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/finsbury-park-mosque-links-to-radical-islamic-terrorism/news-story/a568aac3ccd955868bca1f1a8c792812|title=Mosque links to radical terrorism|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=24 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624180425/http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/finsbury-park-mosque-links-to-radical-islamic-terrorism/news-story/a568aac3ccd955868bca1f1a8c792812|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/finsbury-park-mosque-from-terrorist-hostel-to-symbol-of-modernity-openness-and-tolerance-79715|title=Finsbury Park Mosque: from 'terrorist hostel' to symbol of modernity, openness and tolerance|first=Kurt|last=Barling|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619175346/http://theconversation.com/finsbury-park-mosque-from-terrorist-hostel-to-symbol-of-modernity-openness-and-tolerance-79715|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Guantanamo Bay files leak|leaked US documents]], Finsbury Park mosque previously served "as a haven" for Islamic extremists who subsequently fought against allied forces in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13197331 |title=Finsbury Park mosque 'was a haven' for extremists |date=26 April 2011 |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617021418/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13197331 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Al Qaeda]] operatives including "shoebomber" [[Richard Reid (terrorist)|Richard Reid]] and [[Zacarias Moussaoui]] attended the mosque.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article343843.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209033319/http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article343843.ece|archive-date=9 February 2006|author=Neville Dean and Nick Allen, [[Press Association|PA]]|title=Finsbury Park mosque's terrorist roll call|date=7 February 2006|work=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref> In 2002, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that weapons training had taken place inside the building.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/feb/17/terrorism.religion |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=AK-47 training held at London mosque |first=Jason |last=Burke |date=17 February 2002 |access-date=20 May 2010 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826001954/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/feb/17/terrorism.religion |url-status=live }}</ref> On 11 September 2002, a conference was held at the mosque titled "A Towering Day in History" to praise the [[September 11 hijackers]] on the anniversary of the attack with the participation of [[Anjem Choudary]], Abu Hamza, [[Omar Bakri Mohammed]], [[Mohammad al-Massari]] and others.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/sep/12/september11.usa2 Radicals meet at north London mosque to mark 'towering day'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416012649/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/sep/12/september11.usa2 |date=16 April 2018 }}, Guardian, 12 September 2002</ref><ref>[http://insct.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Wiktorowicz.Joining-the-Cause.pdf Wiktorowicz, Quintan. "Joining the cause: Al-Muhajiroun and radical Islam."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430092942/http://insct.syr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Wiktorowicz.Joining-the-Cause.pdf |date=30 April 2016 }}, The Roots of Islamic Radicalism conference, Yale. Devji, F (2005) ''Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality and Modernity''. London: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd. 2004., (page 13)</ref> In the late 1990s, Abu Hamza and the mosque became the leading international spiritual reference supporting the [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria]] (GIA) in the [[Algerian Civil War]], at a time when the GIA was spurned even by most Salafi-jihadist groups for their [[List of massacres during the Algerian Civil War|massacres of civilians]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Lyubov Grigorova Mincheva |author2=Lyubov Grigorova |author3=Ted Robert Gurr |title=Crime-terror Alliances and the State: Ethnonationalist and Islamist Challenges to Regional Security|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFNwrdnzQq0C&pg=PA96|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|pages=96β97|isbn=978-0-415-50648-9}}</ref><ref name="gilles">{{Cite book|first=Gilles|last=Kepel|title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLvTNk75hUoC&pg=PA263|year=2006 |publisher=I.B.Tauris|page=272|isbn=978-1-84511-257-8}}</ref> The United States charged Abu Hamza as a "terrorist facilitator with a global reach" in 2004; he was arrested,<ref name="Abu Hamza profile" /> sentenced in the UK to a seven-year prison sentence in 2006,<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-19787234/archive-abu-hamza-guilty-of-inciting-murder Archive: Abu Hamza guilty of inciting murder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617032715/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-19787234/archive-abu-hamza-guilty-of-inciting-murder |date=17 June 2018 }}, BBC News (February 7, 2006)</ref> and subsequently [[extradition|extradited]] to the United States where he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<ref name="Woolf">Nicky Woolf, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/abu-hamza-sentenced-life-impisonment-terrorism-conviction Abu Hamza sentenced to life in prison on US terrorism conviction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423101819/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/abu-hamza-sentenced-life-impisonment-terrorism-conviction |date=23 April 2016 }}, ''The Guardian'' (January 9, 2015).</ref> According to [[Guantanamo Bay files leak|disclosures via WikiLeaks]], several [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] detainees passed through the mosque prior to their subsequent activities.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8472854/WikiLeaks-how-Britain-became-a-haven-for-migrant-extremists.html WikiLeaks: how Britain 'became a haven for migrant extremists'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613010459/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8472854/WikiLeaks-how-Britain-became-a-haven-for-migrant-extremists.html |date=13 June 2018 }}, ''Telegraph'', 25 April 2011</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VV5MAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22finsbury+park+mosque%22+guantanamo+wikileaks&pg=PA28 ''Responding to the Threat of Violent Extremism: Failing to Prevent''], by Paul Thomas, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-84966-525-4}}, page 28</ref> The mosque's role in facilitating terror operations during these years is often mentioned in the context of the [[Londonistan]], which was widely used by the international espionage community to describe London, due to the liberty afforded to Muslim extremists by British authorities.<ref>[http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/06/hitchens200706 Londonistan Calling] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620190848/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/06/hitchens200706 |date=20 June 2017 }}, Vanity Fair, June 2007</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11333494/Abu-Hamza-trial-Finsbury-Park-mosque-informant-Reda-Hassaine-sees-his-enemy-jailed.html Abu Hamza trial: Finsbury Park mosque informant Reda Hassaine sees his enemy jailed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416083158/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11333494/Abu-Hamza-trial-Finsbury-Park-mosque-informant-Reda-Hassaine-sees-his-enemy-jailed.html |date=16 April 2018 }}, ''The Daily Telegraph'', January 2015</ref>
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