Mohammed Sawalha was a member of a Hamas delegation to Russia in September

A leader of one of Britain’s most prominent mosques is a ruling member of Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation.

Mohammed Sawalha, a trustee of the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, has been appointed a member of the political bureau of Hamas.

His role was revealed when it was announced that he was part of a Hamas delegation to Moscow in September which held a meeting with Mikhail Bogdanov, President Putin’s Middle East envoy, and a deputy foreign minister.

Hamas has been designated an outlawed terrorist organisation by the US and the EU, meaning that its assets can be seized and its members jailed. The UK has banned only its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, meaning that Mr Sawalha has committed