Since Tariq Ramadan’s US visa was recently officially denied, and after we’ve published evidence linking him to convicted terrorists in Europe, many so called “intellectual” voices have supported him in Europe while he continues to deny the facts against the obvious reality.
Contrary to statements I read and receive every day from his supporters, the United States is not the first Western country to deny access to Tariq Ramadan. From November 1995 until May 1996, the French government denied entry to Tariq Ramadan, who was considered at the time as a “central figure of the European Islamist movement”.
To claim that there is no evidence supporting allegations against him is also simply wrong. During a face to face debate I had with him on Swiss TV in December 2003, I’ve provided all material evidence supporting my claims. Tariq Ramadan, as usual, while facing the obvious, denied every single claim against him:
He denied his contacts with Djamel Beghal, stating that his statements were obtained under torture, that Beghal is illiterate and would not be able to write his speeches as he claimed. He denied ever meeting him, as claimed by Beghal himself before a French judge without any torture. He denied his contacts with Ahmed Brahim, claiming he didn’t know him and asked me to provide evidence of telephone intercepts, while the Spanish police was claiming “regular contacts” between them. He denied having organized a meeting attended by Ayman Al Zawahiri and Omar Abdel Rahman in Geneva in 1991, claiming he was not present in Switzerland at the time and providing a statement from some Swiss official saying Switzerland cannot confirm the presence of Zawahiri in the country at the time of the meeting. He even denied being a director of the Geneva Islamic Center, a position he still holds until now according to the official Swiss register of companies.
The same way, he labelled “ridiculous” a Swiss intelligence report stating he is “still a major figure of the Muslim Brotherhood” and has been “named in 1993 by the same Muslim Brotherhood Organization as the leader for Da’awa (the Call / indoctrination) in Europe” or the fact that according to the same report, “Omar Abdel Rahman is the uncle of the Ramadan brothers”.
Tariq Ramadan was denied entry in the Unites States for donations he had made to designated organizations, the CBSP and the ASP (see my earlier post). Interestingly, a French newspaper recently revealed that one of Ramadan’s assistant was specifically in charge of collecting funds for the CBSP. But this also would probably be denied by Tariq Ramadan.
Tariq Ramadan state of denial is not new. It is simply another expression of his doublespeak standard.
Editor's Note (10/10/06): Olivier Guitta has a good post on Tariq Ramadan at the CT Blog here.
Dr. Tariq Ramadan came to Vancouver Canada to talk about the ideas in his new book Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation. TI had the chance to interview Tariq about his ideas of reforming islam as well talked to Canadian Muslims and listened to their opinions and perspectives. I thought you might be interested to view this video.
Video Link
http://www.vancouveriam.com/videos/e773179ba0e2
I work with VancouverIAM a social media network online
Becky Gavigan
beckygavigan.com
VancouverIAM.com
Posted by: Becky Gavigan | February 26, 2009 at 11:18