Islamic activist in Britain sent to jail for terror funding

An extremist Muslim who once heckled a Cabinet minister during a television broadcast was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison Friday for raising money for terrorists and inciting terrorism overseas.

Abu Izzadeen, a 32-year-old electrician who is a British-born convert to Islamic, was sentenced along with five other men following their convictions by a jury Thursday.

Izzadeen is best known for confronting then-Home Secretary John Reid at a community center in 2006. Reid urged Muslim families to intervene if they feared their children were being radicalized, then Izzadeen interrupted and accused Britain of state terrorism.

But Izzadeen's conviction stemmed from inflammatory speeches given in 2004, as U.S. troops battled insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, and remarks made after the July 2005 bombings in London that killed 52 commuters. He allegedly called for volunteers to fight coalition troops in Iraq and urged Muslims to give money to insurgents overseas.

Fellow British-born Muslim convert Simon Keeler was also sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison on similar charges.

"I find that you are arrogant, contemptuous and utterly devoid of any sign of remorse," Judge Nicolas Price said to the men as he handed down their sentences.

Defendant Abdul Muhid was given a two-year sentence. He already is serving four years for soliciting murder at a protest in 2006 over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.

Another defendant, Shah Jalal Hussain, turned himself in to police Friday after he skipped bail during the trial. He was sentenced to two years for fundraising for terrorists and three months for breaking his bail.