Frensh Govt to prohibit Qaradawi from entering the country

“This person does not require a visa because he holds a diplomatic passport, but measures could be taken to prohibit him from entering France,” Guaino, a special advisor and speech writer to Sarkozy.

The French government will prevent an influential Egyptian scholar if he accepts an invitation from an Islamic organization to visit France next month, a close aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday.

Henri Guaino said the government would take measures to block the entry of Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi if he seeks to take up the invitation from the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF), a Muslim umbrella group.

“This person does not require a visa because he holds a diplomatic passport, but measures could be taken to prohibit him from entering France,” Guaino, a special advisor and speech writer to Sarkozy, told French Radio J.

Al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, is one of the most widely respected Sunni Muslim clerics in the Arab world and a household name in the Middle East thanks to his regular appearances on the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel.

A former member of Egypt’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, he is independent of the group today but remains close to it.

The UOIF, one of three Muslim federations in France, is also close to the Muslim Brotherhood.