ABU HAMZA AL-MASRI, the controversial imam of Finsbury Park mosque, faces possible deportation after the disclosure yesterday that his British citizenship is based upon a bigamous marriage.

The Egyptian-born cleric was granted the right to remain in the UK after he married Valerie Traverso, a young Englishwoman, in May 1980. However, inquiries by The Times have established that Ms Traverso was already married, and not divorced by her first husband until July 1982. That means the marriage is void, according to family law experts, and Abu Hamza could be stripped of his citizenship.

The Home Office has long been frustrated at its inability to deport the one-eyed, hook-handed imam who has spoken out in support of the September 11 attackers. Last night officials were examining the details of his bigamous marriage.

Police are also expected to investigate, since bigamy is a crime punishable by up to seven years’ imprisonment. Scotland Yard said that officers would “carefully investigate” any evidence that an offence had been committed.

It is unclear whether Abu Hamza, 44, is aware that his marriage was bigamous, however. He was refusing to take telephone calls yesterday, and a reporter calling at his home was turned away by a man who refused to open the door.

Abu Hamza was married under his real name, Mostafa Kamel Mostafa at Westminster Register Office to Ms Traverso, a 25-year-old window dresser from Chelsea, on May 16, 1980.

He has hinted in one interview that he was working as a bouncer at a Soho nightclub at the time. On the marriage certificate, however, he recorded his occupation as a hotel receptionist.

Ms Traverso recorded her surname as Traversa and her marital status as “spinster” — even though she had been married for the previous nine years to a builders’ labourer called Michael Macias, by whom she had two children.

The records at Wandsworth County Court in South London show that that marriage did not end until July 13, 1982, when Mr Macias obtained a divorce.

Under the terms of the Marriage Act 1949, Abu Hamza’s marriage will now be considered void. Rosemary Carter, a family law specialist with London firm Hamlins, said: “It is not a marriage at all. It is a nonsense.”

The cleric has been named in a Yemeni court as the mastermind behind a bomb plot in that country, and a US grand jury is considering whether to charge him over an alleged plan to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.

Since falling under his influence six years ago, Finsbury Park mosque in North London has become a focal point of Islamic fundamentalism. It is also suspected of being used as a base for terrorism, and was raided by 150 police last week.

Officers discovered a CS gas canister, an electric stun gun and a replica pistol. They also seized hundreds of documents, including a number of fake French passports and stolen or counterfeit credit cards.

The Charity Commission is now threatening to permanently remove Abu Hamza as an agent of the charity that controls the mosque, on the grounds that he has made a series of statements of “an extreme and political nature”, and is “causing severe damage to its reputation”.

Ms Traverso is now aged 48, married for the fourth time, and lives as Valerie Fleming with her family in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. She is refusing to discuss her marriage to Abu Hamza.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating