A CONTROVERSIAL Muslim cleric with links to the Clonskeagh mosque in Dublin has been told he is not welcome in France after President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to crack down on the dissemination of radical Islamist ideas.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born religious scholar who is based in Qatar and is considered a spiritual guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, was due to attend a conference in Paris next month organised by the Union of French Islamic Organisations.
Having reacted to the killings of seven people in southwest France this month by promising new laws to punish those who view Islamist websites and travel abroad for indoctrination, Mr Sarkozy said a number of people invited to the Paris conference would be barred.
“I have clearly indicated that there are certain people who have been invited to this conference who are not welcome on French soil,” Mr Sarkozy told French radio. He cited Mr Qaradawi, who is one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim clerics in the Arab world and presents a popular TV programme on al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel.
In the late 1990s, Mr Qaradawi established the European Council for Fatwa and Research – a group of scholars that issues religious opinions, or fatwas, on practical matters specific to Muslims in Europe. The council is based at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh and the imam there, Egyptian-born Hussein Halawa, is the council’s secretary.
Mr Qaradawi has visited Ireland several times because of his links with the council, and was due to attend a conference of Islamic scholars in Dublin last June before he cancelled due to ill-health.
“I indicated to the emir of Qatar himself that this person was not welcome on the territory of the French republic,” Mr Sarkozy said. “He will not come.”
Mr Qaradawi was denied a visa to visit Britain in 2008 on grounds of seeking to “justify acts of terrorist violence or disburse views that could foster inter-community violence”, the British government said at the time.
The octogenarian cleric had defended Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel and attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq. However, Mr Qaradawi’s followers see him as a moderate reformer and point out that he has denounced al-Qaeda attacks in New York, London, Bali and Madrid.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the killings of seven people in and around Toulouse, and the shooting dead by police of the chief suspect, Mohamed Merah (23), continued to dominate the French election campaign.
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has attempted to link the killings to immigration. “How many Mohamed Merahs, in planes and boats, arrive each day in France?” she asked on Sunday.
