Muslim scholar welcomed after lengthy US ban
Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan is on United States soil for the first time in six years. The Oxford University professor arrived in New York on Wednesday.
Ramadan said he was happy to be back despite an hour-long delay passing through customs.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lifted the ban on Ramadan in January. He had been kept out after donating money to a Swiss charity suspected of supporting Hamas.
Ramadan has described the controversy as ridiculous and said he had no link to the Islamic militant group.
The contemporary Islamic studies expert will speak at a panel discussion in Manhattan on Thursday, followed by visits to Chicago, Detroit and Washington, where he will meet members of Congress.
Ramadan wants to help “open channels for better communications with Muslim-majority countries”, according to the Associated Press.
Ramadan, 47, was born in Geneva to Egyptian parents.
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