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UK Quickly Deporting US Citizen Who Claims Political Asylum
A US-born Muslim cleric who sought asylum in the UK four months ago has been detained and told he may be deported within days. Imam Ramee Muhammed, 40, a preacher originally from Chicago, applied for asylum in January this year because he says he fears persecution if he returns to the US. But on Friday, days after an article on his case appeared in a Sunday newspaper, he was detained and his claim fast-tracked. His wife, Haneefa, who is due to give birth any day, fears he may be deported by the end of the week. Speaking at her home in Manchester, Mrs Muhammed, 38, said: "The government is doing what the papers say. No one has come to see if what my husband is claimed to have said is true ... They are playing religious politics." When Mr Muhammed attended an immigration appointment on Friday he was detained and transferred to London. His wife said they had no warning things would move so quickly. The family, who have eight children, came to the UK in 2001 when Mr Muhammed was offered a job at an Islamic institute in Birmingham. But, fearing persecution if he returned to the US because of the post-September 11 climate, he applied for asylum in January this year - and hit the headlines. An article published on the front page of last weekâs Sunday Express, headlined "Maddest asylum plea yet", claimed Mr Muhammed taught Richard Reid - the so-called "shoe bomber"- and had links with the radical preacher Abu Hamza.. Imam Muhammed claims the article is untrue and has complained to the Press Complaints Commission. He admits Richard Reid attended a lecture of his at the Finsbury Park mosque, but says that was six years ago and that he was lecturing on brotherhood. He says he knows Omar Bakri Muhammed, leader of the fringe group al-Muhajiroun, but has no links with him. Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-04-30 |
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