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Publication: AP
Date:
A Muslim cleric accused of inciting
followers to kill "nonbelievers" was granted bail on Wednesday, after a
judge ruled that prosecutors were too slow in passing along evidence to
the defense. Prosecutors say Abdullah el-Faisal, 38, circulated cassettes
of his sermons in which he called on Muslims to kill Hindus, Jews and non-Muslims.
He was arrested in February and denied bail after a judge ruled there was
a chance he would go into hiding.
Judge Peter Beaumont granted el-Faisal
bail on condition that he surrender his passport, report to police every
day and live at his home in east London. He was expected to be released
from custody Thursday. Beaumont ruled that prosecutors had not acted "expeditiously"
in giving el-Faisal's lawyers their evidence against him.
El-Faisal, a Jamaican-born convert
to Islam who has preached across Britain, is charged with encouraging "others
to murder persons unknown." El-Faisal denies the charge. His lawyers say
he is a respected cleric whose quotations from scripture have been taken
out of context. Prosecutors said police had translated several Arabic-language
tapes of el-Faisal's speeches, including one in which he allegedly tells
followers that Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) had declared jihad,
or holy war, against India.
"You can go to India and if you
see a Hindu walking down the road you can kill him and take his money,"
el-Faisal is alleged to have said.
