UK moves to bar U.S. activist

LONDON, England -- The UK government is launching an appeal against a legal ruling that overturned its decision to bar U.S. Muslim activist Louis Farrakhan from Britain.

Chicago-based Farrakhan, 68, successfully challenged a personal decision to extend the ban by then Home Secretary (interior minister) Jack Straw in 2000.

The controversial head of the Nation of Islam has been excluded from Britain since 1986 by successive home secretaries.

Officials fear his presence could lead to public disorder following anti-Semitic remarks he has made in the past.

MORE STORIES • History of the Nation of Islam  • Farrakhan: Racist or righteous?

The present Home Secretary, David Blunkett, said he was "astonished" after the high court's Mr Justice Turner ordered him last July to reconsider the ban.

On Tuesday the matter will go before the Court of Appeal in an attempt to overturn the High Court decision that has been stayed until the outcome of this hearing.

Farrakhan, a father of nine, has been dubbed a "black racist" after using inflammatory language in speeches.

He has described whites as "devils" and Judaism as a "gutter religion" with Jews being called "bloodsuckers" who got rich by oppressing blacks.

In a statement issued after the High Court decision, Blunkett said: "As Home Secretary it is my responsibility to ensure that people who are likely to be a threat to public order in this country are excluded.

"I continue to think that Mr Farrakhan, were he to come here, would be a threat to public order."

Lawyers for Farrakhan argued that he should be allowed into Britain on the grounds, they claimed, that he had "moved on," that he was "an extremely prominent spiritual, religious and social leader" and that in the U.S. he was regarded as a significant spokesman for the black community.

Following the High Court ruling, Farrakhan, who has said he definitely intends to visit Britain, said: "I really don't think that there is any evidence in the 47 years of my ministry in the U.S.A. and in other parts of the world that any violence follows my speeches or follows my teaching."

He said Islam was not a racist religion, and that his message to Britain was one of "atonement, reconciliation and responsibility ... a theme that is much needed in the UK."