Ramadan says visa withdrawal would be political

Tariq Ramadan, the professor who's US visa to work in the University of Notre Dame as head of Religious and Conflict Studies was suddenly and inexplicaply revoked at the eleventh hour, said that if he is not admitted into the country to work, political pressure will have been used to block his appeal.

Ramadan said that that he had been assured by Colin Powell that the State Department would reassess his case in a fair trial. If this is the case, Ramadan is confident that he will be accepted. "I know that I am transparent about my work and my contacts, and therefore I am confident about my position," he said on Saturday after a seminar at the ESF entitled Europe and the Arab World: Towards Understanding and Solidarity. "Therefore it will be clear, if I do not get the visa, that there was political pressure behind the decision," he added.

He also said that if his appeal fails, he would not apply again for a visa in the US. "If I am rejected, there is no place for me there," he said. He was not clear about where he might settle instead, but said that he would most likely leave Switzerland, where he has lived for most of his life.