Abu Hamza Wants to Return to London Prison

Egyptian hardline preacher Abu Hamza. (Reuters)
Egyptian hardline preacher Abu Hamza. (Reuters)
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Abu Hamza Wants to Return to London Prison

Egyptian hardline preacher Abu Hamza. (Reuters)
Egyptian hardline preacher Abu Hamza. (Reuters)

Egyptian preacher Mustapha Kamel Mustapha, dubbed Egyptian Abu Hamza, can no longer stand the conditions in US prison and wants to return to Belmarsh British prison.

The former Finsbury Park imam registered an appeal against his detention at the maximum security ADX Florence prison.

The convicted hardline preacher, 59, claims his conditions at the prison violate human rights under Article 3 of the European Convention, which protects people from "inhuman and degrading treatment".

The Sunday Times reported that in October 2015, Abu Hamza was convicted of 11 terrorism offenses and was deported to the US, where is spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement and is only allowed out of his cell for an hour.

He claims that he is "permitted to one hour per day of recreation time outside of his cell... [and] even during that one-hour recreation, however, [he] is still confined within a cell-sized cage" on his own, according to the newspaper.

Before US prosecutors won their eight-year legal battle to transfer him from the UK in October 2012, Abu Hamza was locked up at Belmarsh, southeast London, where conditions were quite different.

Hamza is a double amputee, blind in one eye, suffers from diabetes, psoriasis and a condition where he sweats excessively and has to shower twice a day.

In his appeal, the preacher argued that he received at Belmarsh daily visits from medical staff, regular doctor visits, and was allowed to mix with other inmates. But, according to the appeal, at the US prison he is subject to regular outbreaks of infections in his hands, which have been increasing in severity.

One of Abu Hamza's lawyers stated: "We strongly believe that the conditions of his confinement violate the expectations of the European Convention on Human Rights and the promises that were made by the US government to the [British and European] courts as part of the extradition process."

The lawyer reiterated that Abu Hamza would go back to Belmarsh in a second if he could.

Asharq Al-Awsat received a letter from Abu Hamza sent to his family two years ago in which he described his confinement conditions in the US prison. He told the family that he is not allowed to see or talk to anyone and they continue to give him canned food.

The preacher was finally granted the permission to speak to his family for 30 minutes once a month, however, he was denied this right recently for failing to submit a urine sample.

Abu Hamza claimed the tube they gave him to provide the sample was very small and he was not able to hold it.

Mustapha Kamel Mustapha, or Abu Hamza al-Masri, was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1958, the son of a naval officer and a primary school headmistress. He graduated from civil engineering college, and in 1979, he entered the UK on a student visa.

In 1980, he was granted UK citizenship after marrying his first wife, a British Muslim convert, the mother of his oldest son, Mohammed Kamel, who was convicted of being part of a bomb plot in Yemen and was imprisoned for three years in 1999.

Abu Hamza later divorced his first wife and remarried in 1984 a woman whom he had met in a Muslim celebration in London.

Over the years, Hamza has given several different reasons for why he had lost his hands and eye including: a road paving project in Pakistan, an explosion while working in a mine in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, during a fight with the Pakistani Mujahideen, and during an accidental bombing while working with Pakistani military in Lahore.



Cape Verde in Mourning after Children Killed in Bus Crash

An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
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Cape Verde in Mourning after Children Killed in Bus Crash

An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)
An aerial view of residents and relatives of the victims killed in a bus crash gathering during their funeral at Sao Lourenco Church in the town of Sao Lourenco, on the island of Fogo, on September 6, 2026. (Photo by Herculano da Luz / AFP)

Cape Verde's government announced two days of mourning on Sunday after 25 people, mostly children and teenagers, were killed in a bus crash.

The west African country's leaders joined a Mass on Sunday at a local church on the island of Fogo, where 18 coffins were on display.

Such accidents are rare in the Atlantic archipelago, where roads are generally in good condition.

Officials said the bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep ravine late on Saturday, following an excursion to a village inside a volcanic crater.

The dead included the bus driver, who organized the excursion every year as a present for the pupils he drove to school during term time.

Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho told public television station TCV he had ordered two days of mourning and promised further measures would be taken.

President Jose Maria Neves, meanwhile, said he would order an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident.

"Right now the priority is to show solidarity with the families of the victims," AFP quoted him as saying.

Emergency personnel worked through the night to rescue victims trapped in the wreckage, in a remote, rocky valley.

Seven victims were buried early on Sunday. The rest were set to be buried later in the day, according to public radio network RCV.

Dionisio Semedo, a doctor at the regional hospital on Fogo, told public TV that 12 people were still receiving treatment, two of whom were in serious condition.

He said bodies and injured people began arriving at the hospital on Saturday night, between 11:00 pm and midnight.


Iran's Top Negotiator Threatens 'Faster, More Intense' Response to US Attacks

People walk past a large anti-US banner with reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in Tehran on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) /
People walk past a large anti-US banner with reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in Tehran on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) /
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Iran's Top Negotiator Threatens 'Faster, More Intense' Response to US Attacks

People walk past a large anti-US banner with reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in Tehran on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) /
People walk past a large anti-US banner with reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in Tehran on September 2, 2026. (Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP) /

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened on Sunday to launch swifter and more forceful responses to US attacks, after Tehran targeted American warships in retaliation for US attacks on tankers.

"The Americans must have understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end," said Ghalibaf in a speech carried by state media, adding that "any aggression against Iran's interests and security will receive a faster, more intense and more painful response.”

Iran said Sunday that it struck an unmanned US military boat in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command, which oversees the US military operations in the Middle East, did not confirm the claim or respond to request for comment. It comes one day after the US said it struck Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for Iran launching ballistic missiles at Navy warships.


A Fuel Tanker Explosion in West Iran Kills 11 and Injures 7

A fuel tanker exploded in western Iran, killing 11 people and injuring seven others, according to the state media.(AP)
A fuel tanker exploded in western Iran, killing 11 people and injuring seven others, according to the state media.(AP)
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A Fuel Tanker Explosion in West Iran Kills 11 and Injures 7

A fuel tanker exploded in western Iran, killing 11 people and injuring seven others, according to the state media.(AP)
A fuel tanker exploded in western Iran, killing 11 people and injuring seven others, according to the state media.(AP)

A fuel tanker exploded in western Iran, killing 11 people and injuring seven others, state media said.

IRNA reported late Saturday that the tanker hit other cars before bursting into flames near a traffic police station close to the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, some 400 kilometers (248 miles) west of the capital, Tehran. The report cited a faulty brake system, The Associated Press said.

The injured were transferred to hospitals.

In 2018, a similar road accident between a fuel tanker and an intercity passenger bus near Sanandaj killed 15 people and injured four.

Road and traffic accidents annually leave more than 17,000 dead in Iran. Experts blame the high fatality rate on unsafe vehicles, disregard for traffic rules, and inadequate emergency services.