THE Islamic holy man said to have masterminded an anti-British bomb plot has travelled to Burnley to try and recruit volunteers for a Holy war.

But a local community leader has insisted that London preacher Imam Abu Hamza failed to move people who packed North Street Mosque to hear his attack on British "double standards" and call for a Holy Jihad against evil.

Channel 4's Dispatches programme this week broadcast tapes it said featured Hamza urging young Muslims in Burnley to undertake military training and carry out guerilla warfare in countries like Yemen and Afghanistan. The tape calls on them to give blood sacrifice for their faith: "We have either to kill or be killed, that's the only way to bring back Islam - the battle of the gun," it said.

But today Coun Daneshouse councillor Rafique Malik, secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques dismissed suggestions that local young Asians followed the powerful preacher, despite fears among community elders that they would: "I know for a fact that no-one from Burnley responded to his message - we checked all families, particularly young people over whom he often exercises a strong influence and no-one has gone missing to follow him," he added.

Hamza's visit to Burnley last year was revealed as he was named as the man behind the alleged terrorist plot to blow up Western targets in the Yemen in retaliation for the west's bombing of Iraq. A judge in the country that was formerly Aden ruled that eight Moslems had flown from their homes in Birmingham and London to blow up western targets, but were arrested by Yemeni security forces - five of them receiving prison terms of up to seven years.

Today Hamza, father of one defendant and step-father of another, denied involvement but said he would continue calling for a jihad but added: "Our war is not with Britain".

Coun Malik said Hamza was an extremely powerful preacher who had found a way to harness the discontent of university educated Asians who could not find work, pointing the finger at racial discrimination. Coun Malik, deputy leader of Burnley Council and secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said he did not believe Hamza's influence led to the deaths of two Burnley Asian men said to have died after crossing the Pakistani border into Afghanistan two years ago to fight for the Taliban Islamic fundamentalists after they seized power in the war-torn state. "He targets his interest on the Middle East where he has strong family connections," he added.

Coun Malik said: "He speaks passionately and is a very good orator.

"He makes a very convincing argument, highlighting double standards by the west on democratic and middle east issues."

Coun Malik said he knew of no plans for Hamza to return to Burnley: "I hope not," he added.

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