Hamza wins right to British passport

The radical cleric argued that such a move would render him "stateless" as he had already been stripped of his Egyptian citizenship. Delivering its 12-page ruling yesterday, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) allowed his appeal.

Hamza, 52, was jailed for seven years in February 2006 for inciting murder and race hate and is in Belmarsh Prison as he challenges attempts to extradite him to the United States on terror charges. That case was delayed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in July, which called for further submissions over the length of his sentence and the conditions he would experience if extradited to a Colorado jail.

Attempts to take his passport away were launched in 2003 but delayed by other legal actions against him.

At a three-day hearing in London last month, Hamza's lawyers argued he had already been stripped of his Egyptian citizenship so could not have his British passport taken too, as that would render him "stateless".

The commission heard Hamza may have had his Egyptian nationality revoked but the country's government would not confirm whether he had or not.

The cleric came to Britain on a student visa and acquired a British passport through marriage.

He was denied an Egyptian passport in 1982 because he had not undertaken military service, the panel heard, but a decree in 1988 allowed him his citizenship back.

But Egyptian law expert Sabah Al-Mukhtar, appearing as a witness for Hamza's legal team, told the commission it was possible he had been stripped of his nationality later on for other reasons.

He said by refusing Hamza a passport the Egyptian government was giving a "de facto" denial of his nationality.

James Strachan, for the Home Office, said that was a "fundamental disagreement" with their own expert's evidence and Hamza had travelled to Egypt using a British passport and had been granted a visa to visit. "None of these events require or mean that he has been stripped of Egyptian nationality."

But Mr Justice Mitting concluded yesterday: "We are satisfied on balance of probabilities that if a deprivation order were to be made, the appellant (Hamza) would be made stateless.