Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K.'s highest court refused to grant Abu Hamza al-Masri, an Islamic cleric convicted for inciting murder and racial hatred, permission to appeal the verdict.

The House of Lords let the conviction stand without comment. The decision, announced today, could speed up U.S. extradition proceedings for al-Masri, the former head of a London mosque, who is wanted by New York prosecutors on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Masri is serving a seven-year prison term for inciting followers to murder Jews and non-Muslims in sermons between 1997 and 2000. Al-Masri was convicted in February on 10 counts of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.

Lord Chief Justice Nicholas Phillips, sitting in the Court of Appeal in November, rejected claims that jurors were swayed by media coverage and unrelated 2005 bombings on London's public transport system. Phillips said jurors acted ``objectively and impartially.''

Edward Fitzgerald QC, Al-Masri's lawyer, referred calls to Arani & Co. solicitors. Muddassar Arani, the firm's senior partner, didn't immediately return a phone message from Bloomberg.

Al-Masri claims that he preached religious tenets set forth in the Koran. He also denies claims by New York prosecutors that he tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and aided in a 1998 hostage-taking raid in Yemen.

The U.S. government has said it will use the ``temporary surrender'' provisions of Britain's extradition legislation to bring al-Masri to trial in the U.S. before the end of his U.K. jail term, upon the final resolution of his appeal.

Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, worshipped at al-Masri's Finsbury Park Mosque in north London. Al-Masri was removed as head of the congregation in 2003.

To contact the reporter on this story: Caroline Byrne in London at cbyrne12@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 30, 2007 08:07 EST