A FANATICAL Muslim cleric who urged his followers to murder Americans, Hindus and Jews was jailed for nine years yesterday.

Abdullah el-Faisal was told that he had “fanned the flames of hostility” with his racist sermons and should serve at least half his sentence before being deported.

El-Faisal, 39, was found guilty last month of three charges of soliciting murder and three counts of stirring up racial hatred.

He had toured Britain for four years urging audiences to follow the teachings of Osama bin Laden and kill all “unbelievers” as part of the jihad, or holy war.

Anti-terrorism detectives started an investigation into British links with al-Qaeda terrorists after hearing recordings of him advocating the use of chemical and nuclear weapons against non-Muslims.

Shortly afterwards The Times disclosed the full extent of el-Faisal’s message, which prompted MPs to raise the nature of his sermons in the House of Commons. The jury, sitting at the Old Bailey, heard tapes of him encouraging his audience to learn how to use Kalashnikov rifles and gain the heavenly rewards of killing kuffars, or unbelievers.

The prosecution for soliciting murder, which has a maximum sentence of life, was the first in more than 100 years under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.

The jailing of el-Faisal provoked angry scenes outside the court and some Muslim leaders gave warning that it could produce a backlash.

Shiekh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the leader of Al-Muhajiroun, an extremist Muslim group, said: “The judge was not a Muslim, the jury were not Muslims and I see this sentence as part of a crusade against the Muslim faith.

“The Koran was on trial. El-Faisal is being penalised for speaking the truth; he was not speaking his own words, but those of the Koran. He would not have been treated this way if we were not in such an Islamophobic climate.”

As more than 20 of el-Faisal’s followers shouted “Allah is the only judge” outside the court, Jerome Lynch, QC, his defence barrister, said they would appeal.

He added: “There is a realistic prospect that many Muslims will regard this sentence as harsh, even though they do not share his views.”

Extra police and security staff were on duty inside and outside court for the sentencing.

As el-Faisal was taken to the cells he stretched out an arm to a group of about a dozen shocked supporters sitting in the public gallery.

El-Faisal, born in Jamaica but now resident in Stratford, East London, was jailed for a total of seven years on three charges of soliciting the murder of non-believers, Jews, Hindus and Americans in his speeches, and a further two years on charges of using insulting words and distributing tapes of insulting words.

Sentencing him, Peter Beaumont, the Common Serjeant of London, said: “This country has a tradition of free speech. That right is preserved by making sure that one person’s right to speak what he or she believes does not endanger someone else’s right to live or worship in peace.

“In my judgment your offending was aggravated by the fact that, as a cleric, you were sent to this country to preach and minister to the Muslim community in London, and so had a responsibility to the young and the impressionable.

“Within that community, at times of conflict abroad and understandable tensions in the communities here, instead of calming fears you fanned the flames of hostility.

“To me, it rang hollow for you to say that none of the young men to whom you preached went off to fight in Afghanistan, Chechnya or Kashmir. No one, least of all you, will ever know.”

David Winnick, Labour MP for Walsall North and a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “This sentence should be a message, loud and clear, to all hatemongers that they will not be tolerated, whatever their religion.

“I congratulate The Times for bringing this matter to public attention.”

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