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Journo warns of Muslim backlash over his 'delayed' visa
A Palestinian journalist has warned of a Muslim backlash over the failure of Australian authorities to grant him a visa in time to speak at today's Brisbane Writers Festival. Abdel Bari-Atwan, a best-selling author and among the last Western journalists to interview Osama bin Laden, was cancelled as a speaker at the festival yesterday as he waited for his visa application to be processed.

Atwan, author of The Secret History of al-Qa'ida, accused the Howard Government of discrimination in delaying approval for his visa application, submitted on August 16, after giving notice to authorities of his intention to visit Australia. "I believe this is a deliberate delay because I am an Arab and a Muslim," Atwan said. "It is ridiculous. I am not a terrorist, I am not a drug dealer, I am dealing in words and thoughts."

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews denied any delay. "His application is currently being assessed and is subject to normal visa processing requirements," he said in a statement.
Normal? NORMAL??? Do you KNOW WHO I AM ????
Mr Andrews' spokeswoman later conceded that Atwan's 1996 interview with bin Laden in Afghanistan would be "a matter for security agencies" in processing his application. "This is not an unusual amount of time for the processing of a visa. He is in queue just like everyone else," she said.

Festival director Michael Campbell said visa applications for other international speakers had, on average, taken just "a few days". "I am appalled and embarrassed in equal parts by this situation," he said.

A self-described moderate, Atwan is editor-in-chief of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper and a regular guest on the American university circuit and on CNN, BBC and the ABC. He said his visa problems would air throughout the Muslim world. "This could, in fact, incite trouble for Australia because there are a billion-and-a-half Muslims over the world and this will be publicised among those people," he said. "They are not serving the Australian peoples' interests, they are not serving Australian security, they are actually doing the opposite."

Human Rights lawyer Greg Barns, who advised Atwan, said there was no legal reason to deny him a visa.
But there are good reasons to keep him from speaking in Oz, I suspect.

Posted by: Seafarious 2007-09-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=198900