Defy Mosque Ban

Mr Abu Hamza, a Muslim cleric, has until midnight on Monday to respond to a decision by the charity commission to remove him as the main cleric of the North London Central Mosque which he (1) _______________ (to allege) (2) _______________ (to turn) into a hotbed of Islamic extremism.

Commissioners concluded in December that a succession of statements by Mr Hamza (3) _______________ (to be) of “such an extreme and political nature as to conflict” with the charitable status the mosque (4) _______________ (to enjoy). Commissioners will meet to decide what action to take if he (5) _______________ (to ignore) the ban and may seek a court order (6) ____________________ (have/he/remove) by force.

Mr Hamza, 45, who is an Egyptian national, remained defiant. He said: “As long as I (7) _______________ (to be) free I (8) _______________ (to continue) preaching.”

His solicitor, Muddassar Arani, said investigators (9) _______________ (to fail) to speak to Mr Hamza and said the ban (10) _______________ (to challenge).

Anthony Robbins of the charity commission said the cleric’s denunciations of the US and Israel (11) _______________ (to be) unacceptably vehement: “His statements (12) _______________ (to be) of such an extreme nature and (13) _______________ (to be) so political that they (14) _______________ (to be) at odds with the status of a mosque as a charity.”

Massoud Shadzareh of the Islamic Human Rights Commission said he (15) _______________ (to disagree) with Mr Hamza, but (16) _______________ (to support) his right to freedom of speech: “When the Archbishop of Canterbury attacks the government about the Gulf war he (17) _______________ (to be) political but no one (18) _______________ (to talk) of removing the Church of England’s charitable status, or that of rabbis who (19) _______________ (to support) Israel. There’s a double standard.”

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

 

B.

West Africa Fuels Illegal

Ivory Trade

The west African states of Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast (1) _________________ (to name and shame) yesterday for allegedly fueling the illegal ivory trade. A new report from conservation watchdogs said the three, largely (2) _______________ (to wipe out) their own elephant population, now (3) ___________________ (to import and sell) tons of ivory which (4) _______________ (to poach) in nearby countries. The report accused the countries of undermining the worldwide campaign to stamp out lucrative trade in endangered species.

After years of debate the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, (5) _______________ (to ban) the ivory trade in 1989 – a ban which (6) _______________ (to apply) to 164 nations. At first the ban worked well, but a spate of large African ivory shipments (7) ______________ (to intercept) in Asia earlier this year promoted the warnings that demand (8) _______________ (to rise). “Not only there (9) _______________ (to be) a lack of political will to implement CITES, corruption (10) _______________ (to prevent) effective control on the ivory trade,” said Susan Lieberman, director of the international species programme.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

C.

‘Vicious Racism’ Costs Met £250,000

A middle-aged black man with no criminal record who (1) _______________ (to assault) by police officers, (2) ______________ (to subject) to racist abuse and (3) (to prosecute) _______________ on trumped-up charges (4) _______________ (to win) nearly £250,000 damages yesterday, one of the biggest awards ever (5) _______________ (to make) for police misconduct.

Judge Michael Dean, at Central London County Court, ordered the Metropolitan police to pay the damages to Sylbert Farquharson, 57, (6) _______________ (to describe) by the judge as “a respectable middle-aged family man of good character.” The sum includes exemplary charges, which (7) _______________ (to award) against defendants who (8) _______________ (to act) “in an aggressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional manner as agents of the state.”

Mr Farquharson, then a delivery van driver, arrived in Landor Road, south London, in July, just after his cousin, Stephen Smith, (9) _______________ (to arrest) for protesting to police about the handcuffing of a black café owner who (10) _______________ (to search) on suspicion of involvement in dealing cannabis.

The café proprietor, Clinton Washington, who was in his 50s, had no criminal record. But police said they (11) _______________ (to see) him (12) _______________ (to wave) to a black man in a BMW car and (13) _______________ (to think) he might (14) ________________ (to involve) with drugs.

Mr Smith told the police the handcuffs on Mr Washington, who offered no resistance, were too tight. Officers arrested Mr Smith for obstruction. When Mr Farquharson arrived on the scene, he saw his cousin and went to find out what (15) _______________ (to happen). Judge Dean said he (16) _______________ (to assault) by three police officers and (17) _______________ (to throw) facedown in the gutter in the presence of members of the public, who rightly (18) _______________ (to appall). He (19) _______________ (to restrain) with two sets of handcuffs. They (20) _______________ (to suppose) (21) _______________ (to doublelock) so as not to cut into the wrists, but the police neglected to do this. He (22) _______________ (to suffer) permanent damage to his wrists and (23) _______________ (to leave) with chronic pain syndrome.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

D.

Car Dealer Was Wallis Simpson’s