In the first prosecution of its kind in Britain, a Muslim cleric who called for Jews, Hindus and non-Muslims to be killed has been convicted.

Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, 39, was convicted on Monday evening by the Old Bailey jury on three charges of ‘soliciting murder and stirring up race hatred'. He will be sentenced on March 7.

The home office is reviewing Sheikh Abdullah's immigration status.

It was the first time that potential jurors were banned from sitting on the jury because of their religion. The judge agreed to a defence plea not to allow Jewish and Hindu jurors, but in the end none came forward.

It was also the first time in more than 100 years that anyone had been charged under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act of soliciting murder without a specific victim.

The Jamaica-born Sheikh Abdullah had been acquainted with James Ujaama, accused of setting up a terrorist training camp in America.

In his lectures, tapes of which went on sale in specialist bookshops, Sheikh Abdullah was heard quoting the words of Osama bin Laden and backing the use of nuclear and chemical weapons. On the cover of one recording was a picture of the burning World Trade Centre.

Sheikh Abdullah, a father of three from Stratford, East London, said he was interpreting and updating the words of Koran. He said his references to killing were limited to the religious battlefield.

But David Perry, prosecuting, said the preacher was trying to hide behind a 'cloak of religion' to mask his hatred.

"This is not some crank in Speaker's Corner," Perry told the jury. Sheikh Abdullah was addressing young, impressionable Muslims 'from a position of authority' and was a 'fanatic and extremist'.

Perry said Sheikh Abdullah was encouraging Britons to go to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan before and after September 11, 2001.

Sheikh Abdullah told his audiences: "You have to learn to fly planes, drive tanks and you have to learn how to load your guns and to use missiles."

He said boys of 15 were soldiers and asked them: "Is it sensible for you to be a soldier and not know how to shoot a Kalashnikov?"

Sheikh Abdullah promised that those who died during a holy war would go to heaven, where they would be given 72 virgins.

"We believe in the bullet not the ballot," he told them. In another speech, he told youngsters: "People with British passports... fly into Israel and do whatever you can. If you die, you are up in paradise.

"How do you fight a Jew? You kill a Jew. In the case of Hindus, by bombing their businesses."