Pat Dollard

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Sunday Mercury:

HOME secretary Jacqui Smith is facing a double standards row after it was revealed that an Islamic extremist exposed by the Sunday Mercury is set to travel to the UK.

In November 2008 the Sunday Mercury revealed that Ibrahim Moussawi, a journalist linked to terrorist group Hezbollah, had been awarded a PhD from Birmingham University and was still allowed in to Britain.

The Home Secretary is under pressure to refuse an entry visa to Moussawi, who has been invited to speak at a London University, after she stopped right wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders from coming into the UK to protect ‘community harmony’.

Moussawi, 43, who lives in the Lebanon, is judged so dangerous that he was denied a visa to enter Ireland in 2007 and Tory leader David Cameron has called for him to be banned from Britain.

But he was allowed to travel to the UK in February 2008 and proceeded to address rallies in London, Birmingham and Bristol.

Tory Peer Baroness Neville-Jones wrote to Ms Smith warning her that Moussawi should not be allowed into the UK.

“You will be aware that Mr Moussawi has links to Hezbollah, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in many countries,” the security expert wrote.

“Mr Moussawi has also, over the years, made a number of remarks that are extremist, anti-Semitic and inflammatory. In October last year you introduced what you described as “tough new measures” to deny entry to extremists.

“These measures included “creating a presumption in favour of exclusion in respect of all those who have engaged in fostering, encouraging or spreading extremism and hatred”. Mr Moussawi has so engaged.

“In line with your “tough new measures”, I trust that if Mr Moussawi applies for entry, you will use your powers to exclude him.”

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “The Government opposes extremism in all its forms. We are determined to prevent individuals coming to the UK who want to spread extremism or hatred in our communities.

“Exclusion decisions are based on hard evidence not hearsay, and are targeted at those who seek to stir up tension and provoke others to violence regardless of their origins and beliefs.”