UK Muslim Leader Barred From US

Dr Zaki Badawi joined other faith leaders in condemning the London bombings

British Muslim leader Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi has said he has been refused entry to the US without explanation. The head of the Muslim College said he flew from London to New York to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York but was turned back.

Dr Badawi said he was detained for six hours on Wednesday and that immigration staff were "very embarrassed". US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it had information indicating Dr Badawi was "inadmissible". Spokeswoman Janet Rapaport said that when problems arose at JFK airport, Dr Badawi voluntarily withdrew his application to enter the country and returned home. "We cannot disclose the information which led to the application being inadmissible because of privacy rules," she added.

Religion lecture
Dr Badawi, who is also a leader of the Council of Mosques and Imams, had been due to give a talk entitled The Law and Religion in Society. Mike Sullivan, of the Chautauqua Institution, said all he knew was that Dr Badawi was back in London.
"We have no explanation as to why this happened," he said.

Dr Badawi appeared with fellow British faith leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, on Sunday to deliver a joint statement condemning last week's "evil terrorist" attacks on London. He most recently visited the US in 2003 - in the same year he was a guest of the Queen at a state banquet for US President George Bush.