Now I know we are doing something right!
Geneva-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan has said he is "in shock" that he will not be able to take up a teaching post in the United States after his visa was revoked. The US State Department said it had cancelled the visa at the request of the Department of Homeland Security. Ramadan — who was granted the visa in February - had been due to start teaching at Notre Dame University in Indiana next week. "All our affairs are already in order in the US. My children are registered in American schools. I'm in shock," he said.
On Wednesday he told swissinfo that he had appealed to the Swiss authorities to put pressure on Washington to reverse its decision. "[Swiss Foreign Minister] Micheline Calmy-Rey has personally intervened, through the US embassy in Bern, to get an explanation," he said. "If the American administration realises that this file was badly managed, I am hopeful that it will quickly reconsider its decision," he added.
The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed that it was providing Ramadan with "consular support", but spokesman Christian Meuwly declined to give further details. Russ Knocke, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said Ramadan's work visa had been revoked because of a section in federal law applying to foreigners who have used a "position of prominence within any country to endorse or espouse terrorist activity". He added that the cancellation of the visa was based on "public safety or national security interests". |