A BRITISH-based Saudi extremist has taken down a website on which he was displaying footage of three Black Watch soldiers being blown up by a suicide bomber in Iraq.

The website run by Mohammad al-Masari, who has lived in Britain since 1994, largely consisted of material supporting action by Al-Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents against westerners.

Now, anyone logging on is greeted by Masari’s “obituary” for his website, which he complains he has been forced to remove because of the recent government crackdown against militants. “Unfortunately we had to suspend big parts of our electronic site until this inquisition blows over or until I move to a country that allows an acceptable degree of free speech,” he writes.

When Masari’s hosting of videos showing the Black Watch killings was first reported in The Sunday Times in November 2004, he defended it by saying Iraqis had a “guaranteed” right to kill coalition soldiers.

Masari claims he has been a victim of the “murder of freedom of opinion and expression by the oppressive regime led by Tony Blair, the liar and well known war criminal”.

He is understood to be one of 50 “preachers of hate” facing expulsion from Britain on a list drawn up by MI5 under new anti-terror rules. Ten foreign nationals on the list have been detained pending deportation. MI5 has now passed a dossier to the government on other extremists considered a threat.

Under measures announced last week by Charles Clarke, the home secretary, foreign nationals may be deported if they create “fear, distrust or division” with the intention of encouraging terrorism.

The government also plans to return suspects to countries that are known to torture detainees — providing it obtains assurances that the deportees will be safe. Any expulsions are likely to face costly challenges funded by the taxpayer. Gareth Peirce, the human rights lawyer representing seven of the 10 detainees, said this weekend that any plans for immediate deportations would be challenged.

However, Clarke is drawing up plans to deport individuals before they lodge appeals. The move will mean suspects will have to fight legal cases from their home countries, although they are still likely to be eligible for legal aid.

Further measures to restrict the preaching of hardline foreign imams will include their vetting by a panel of Britain’s Islamic leaders.

A panel appointed by the Home Office and headed by Lord Ahmed is likely to recommend a standard qualification for all British-trained imams.

The names on the MI5 list, in addition to Masari, are understood to include Saad al-Fagih, a Saudi alleged to have links to Al-Qaeda, and Yasser al-Siri, an Egyptian dissident, both based in London.

The US Treasury has said the website of al-Fagih’s Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia has been used by Al-Qaeda for communications, although he strongly denies involvement in terrorism.

Al-Siri is a former leader of Islamic Jihad, the Egyptian fundamentalist group blamed for the assassination of Anwar Sadat, Egypt’s president, in 1981. He denies any links to terrorism.

Ministers are now obtaining “diplomatic assurances” from countries including Jordan and Egypt that those deported will be treated humanely.

Tony Blair is enthusiastic about the agreements. In past negotiations with Egypt to ensure it would refrain from torture he dismissed the idea of seeking too many commitments, writing: “This is a bit much. Why do we need all these things?”

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