Timing of Abu Hamza Scoop

A lot of people have been questioning the timing of the arrest and possible extradition of Abu Hamza. With good reason IMO.
This story in today's Independent draws attention to the front page headlines in yesterdays Sun:

"It was no surprise that The Sun should break the news that Abu Hamza, the radical Muslim cleric, was being arrested at his home in west London yesterday. His incarceration on behalf of the American authorities had been widely expected for the past month and The Sun headed the pack of right-wing papers calling for him to be put behind bars.

What did take everyone, including Scotland Yard, by surprise was the timing of The Sun's story. The paper was running a front page exclusive - "Hook Seized Today" - hours before the arrest had happened. The Metropolitan Police were so alarmed at the leak that they brough tthe operation forward by three hours from an initial target of six o'clock in the morning."


I would have thought that the potential arrest of such a "dangerous terrorist" would be a closely guarded secret.

I seriously think God has been talking to him about the need to grasp the reins of the faltering Bush presidency.

brittian has been trying to expel him from country from what i understand. then he is presented by u.s. adn they said , well shit, guess we have to arrest him. so cuirious about that

Saw an interesting interview on BBC a couple of weeks ago, with an American in London touted as having diplomatic/political connections. He said the Bush admin were determined to keep Blair in power till after the US elections because if Aznar, Howard and Blair had all been dumped by then, having supported the invasion of Iraq, it would be a huge PR fuckup for them.

Abu Hamza is an embarrassment for Labour, a pantomime monster that the right wing press have beat them with for ages. Getting him shipped off to Gitmo and off the front page of the tabloids would be good news for them, and it's nicely timed with local and european elections less than two weeks away. There'll be other factors no doubt, but maybe giving Blair a temporary boost is part of it.

And yes, funny that The Sun (Murdoch paper of course) got a tip off on this... and according to the scum themselves the tipoff came from Washington.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1226455,00.html

Thanks for the scoop on this.