Controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza faces the threat of expulsion from the London mosque raided by police early today.
The Egyptian-born 45-year-old has made representations against the Charity Commission's threat to exclude him as an agent of the North London Central Mosque Trust for his "inflammatory and highly political" speeches at prayers.
The commission will spend the next fortnight deciding on whether to remove him - although Mr Hamza intends to ignore any decision and continue preaching anyway.
The mosque is a registered charity, allowing the Charity Commission to intervene if it believes the mosque is being used for political purposes.
The leader of the Supporters of Sharia group came to prominence in 1999 when five Britons of Pakistani origin were convicted in Yemen. They were sentenced to between three and seven years for plotting to blow up targets in Aden including the British consulate, a church and a hotel.
Hamza's teenage son and stepson were among those convicted, and prosecutors said he had sent the group to Yemen. Mr Hamza denied this and the five insisted they had been tortured into signing confessions. They were also accused of working with Islamic radicals who kidnapped 16 Westerners in December 1998.
After the September 11th attacks, Mr Hamza said the plane hijackers should be hailed as "martyrs" if it emerged they had carried out the attacks in the name of Islam.
Just before Christmas, BBC2's Newsnightshowed footage of him convincing his followers of the merits of attacking banks.
Asked whether he still maintained it was legitimate to "loot and shoot" in banks, he said: "Banks are a different story. Banks are imposing on us poverty . . . they are enslaving Africa and our countries".
He said his original comments related to banks in France, because of the country's activities in Algeria.
Asked if there was a government on earth which he admired, he replied: "The Taliban." When it was pointed out to him that the Taliban had been forced from power, he said he hoped for its return. "The coming Taliban, hopefully," he said.
PA