US visa denied to Tariq Ramadan for terrorism financing

Following our recent press release on “New Information about Tariq Ramadan’s Links to Terrorism” exposing new evidence that Tariq Ramadan had links to many convicted terrorists in Europe, the USG finally denied a visa to the Islamic scholar “for providing material support to a terrorist organization”.

The US State Department stated that, among other things, since year 2000, Ramadan donated about $765 to French and Swiss organizations, namely the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (CBSP) and the Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP), both designated by the US Treasury Department on August 22, 2003 for their financial support to Hamas. The USG stated at the time that these organizations are “part of a web of charities raising funds on behalf of Hamas and using humanitarian purposes as a cover for acts that support Hamas”.

Despite the fact that these organizations were not designated in Europe, the CBSP and ASP have appeared in several terrorist investigations since 1995, when the prosecution of the 1995 bombings in Paris revealed that Algerian GIA members were raising funds for the CBSP.

Contrary to what Tariq Ramadan still claims, he was denied entry in the US not for his ideas or views. He is not the “victim” of any “ideological exclusion” but the sole responsible of his own actions in supporting terrorism.

EDITOR's NOTE (10/01/2006): Tariq Ramadan has an op-ed in today's Washington Post in which he writes about his being banned from the USA. Notice that he does not address the issues first released here by Jean-Charles Brisard.

Douglas Farah at the CT Blog also refers to Jean-Charles' original post here.

The CT Blog has more on Tariq Ramadan here.