Mar 1, 2008 - ninemsn.com.au

A controversial Muslim scholar who was denied access to the US over alleged links to terrorist networks is to give a lecture at a Queensland government-sponsored conference.

Professor Tariq Ramadan will be introduced by federal Labor Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson at the Griffith University event on Monday.

Prof Ramadan - whose grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founded one of the world’s most radical Islamist movements, the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1928 - is due to deliver a lecture on Islam, The Weekend Australian reports.

The conference has attracted $50,000 in Bligh government sponsorship, the newspaper says, and Muslim and Jewish leaders are concerned about his second visit to Australia.
While former Howard government adviser on Islam Ameer Ali had urged national security authorities to keep him under close surveillance, Mr Ferguson said the US decision to prevent him entering America in 2004 was an “over the top” measure.

Prof Ramadan had been due to take up a lecturing position at Notre Dame Univeristy in Indiana.