Prime Minister Gordon Brown

In Min. Farrakhan?s case, the ban remains active after a strong effort to reverse it because of political pressure from influential Zionist groups, according to Hilary Muhammad, a UK representative of the Nation of Islam. The Muslim leader was banned since 1986 on the charge of anti-Semitism.

Under the proposal, thegovernment would also publicly “name and shame” the people on the list and share the banned list with other countries.

According to UK officials, the change would enact tougher measures on “extremists” and “preachers of hate” and is aimed at keeping those who foster extremism out of Britain—until they prove they should be allowed entry.

Though most names on the exclusion list are secret, two prominent Muslim leaders are publically known—the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam, and Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, an outspoken Lebanese imam and critic of the British and American governments. Sheikh Muhammad was barred from returning to Britain after allegedly praising 2005 bombings in London’s transportation system that killed 56 people and injured 700.

Britain is America’s closest ally in the Iraq war and the war on terror. Since U.S. terror attacks in 2001 and the British attacks in 2005, there was an increase in British arrests and an attempt in 2005 to place increased pressure on houses of worship suspected as safe havens for terrorists.

Statistics supplied by Britain’s Home Office reported 230 persons banned since August 2005 on suspicion of terrorism, posing a threat to national security and fostering extremism. Included in that number were 79 “hate preachers,” the Home Office said.

“Coming to the UK is a privilege, and I refuse to extend that privilege to those who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life,” said Home Secretary Smith, in a statement posted on a government website.

Home Secretary Smith said the law would “create a presumption in favor of exclusion,” unless an “individual claims to have repudiated their previous extremist views or actions.” The burden of proof is on the individual and it must be “publicly communicated,” said the British official.

Critics question the legality of the measure and view it as racism and xenophobia against minorities. The fight against terrorism is a smokescreen, critics said.

“This is a strange inversion of all principles of natural justice. If the government believes these individuals are up to no good, then it is for the government to establish this in a court of law. The presumption should be innocence until proven guilty, not the other way around,” remarked Inayat Bunglawala, a policy and research advisor for ENGAGE, a London-based media awareness and political advocacy group for Muslims.

In Min. Farrakhan’s case, the ban remains active after a strong effort to reverse it because of political pressure from influential Zionist groups, according to Hilary Muhammad, a UK representative of the Nation of Islam. The Muslim leader was banned since 1986 on the charge of anti-Semitism which British courts overruled.

“The ban was overturned in the courts and then reinstituted later under the guise that the courts should not interfere with a decision of a secretary of the state,” explained Mr. Muhammad in a telephone interview with The Final Call from London. “The panel of judges extricated the ability of the court to give justice” and left full authority in the case with the Home Secretary, he said.

The Nation of Islam UK representative said the “mentality of the ban goes back to the days of slavery.”

“Slave-masters fear that the slave will be awakened to the knowledge of himself, assert himself and aspire to be independent,” he said.

Speaking to Lebanon’s OTV about his case, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad accused the British government of fear and hypocrisy and said his ban was in response to the growth of Islam in the UK.

“This country says that it implements democracy, freedom of expression, and personal liberties, but when I expressed my belief by preaching Islam, there was an impressive response in the universities. People were accepting the faith in unprecedented numbers—a rate of 21 per day. It began to endanger their society,” said Sheikh Muhammad.

According to the sheikh, within 20 years British society will include a Muslim majority; an idea that the British government fears.

The Muslim cleric called his propagation of Islam a “religious duty.” “If I am prevented from this duty, then I must defend myself or emigrate. They prevented me from doing this in Britain, so I immigrated to Lebanon,” he said. The British government revoked Sheikh Muhammad’s citizenship disallowing his return.

Though critics oppose the government’s policy, the Home Office said the new rules will see a larger number of people barred from Britain.