THE son of the jailed Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri declared yesterday that he was proud to be a British citizen.

Mohammad Mostafa Kamel, 25, who was jailed for terrorist offences in Yemen in 1999, said that it was wrong to associate him with his father’s views.

“Everybody has their own beliefs and it doesn’t mean that if my dad believes something that I believe the same,” he told the BBC World Service Outlook programme. “I don’t agree with everything my dad says.”

Mr Kamel, who was dismissed from a part-time maintenance job on the London Underground after his bosses realised that he had a conviction for terrorism, insisted that he was peaceful and tolerant. He said: “I’m proud to be British. I love my country.”

His father, the former imam of Finsbury Park mosque in North London, repeatedly described England as “a toilet” and told his followers that they had an obligation to wage holy war against non-Muslims.

Mr Kamel was born in London in October 1981 to Abu Hamza, who was working as a bouncer at a pornographic cinema club, and his first wife, Valerie Traverso.

Abu Hamza took his son to live with him and his second wife, Nagat, in Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan. They returned to London after Abu Hamza lost his hands and an eye while attempting to make explosives.

Mr Kamel did not see his mother again until he was 17 and on trial in Yemen. He denied involvement in terrorism, but was convicted of planning attacks against British and US targets in Yemen.

After the Britons were arrested, Yemeni guerrillas kidnapped Western tourists, four of whom were shot dead during the rescue. Abu Hamza was in direct contact with the leader of the kidnap gang via satellite phone.

Mr Kamel said: “Me and my friend went to Yemen. Our intention was to do a course. The only reason I got in trouble was because there was a lot of media things happening with my dad.” He devoted the three years that he spent in prison to further study of the Koran and now plans to become a Muslim rap artist. “I haven’t got anything against anyone,” he said. “That’s my message — and peace.”

Abu Hamza, 48, was jailed in February for seven years for inciting murder and race hatred. He has appealed.

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