Brit govt embraces Tariq Ramadan

LONDON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Britain has recruited a Muslim banned in America to fight extremism.

Tariq Ramadan, the controversial Muslim scholar who was banned from the United States and France, has been appointed by the British government to an elite task force to combat the rise of Islamic extremism among educated British youth, the Press Trust of India reported Wednesday.

Ramadan, author of books like Western Muslims and Future of Islam, is one of the 13 members appointed by the British government to the task force formed to formulate proposals to deter Muslims from flirting with extremism, PTI said.

The grandson of Hassan al Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Ramadan faces a ban in both the United States and France. Both countries have accused him of "double talk -- spreading radicalism through his inflammatory speeches in Arabic, while delivering gentler messages in French and English".

"He speaks with two voices, one for his European audience, which appears moderate, and one for his Arab hinterland where he voices many of the demands of Islamists," Mike Whine, spokesman for the Jewish Community Security Trust, which monitors alleged Muslim terrorists, told The Guardian in London.

Ramadan has already held talks with the Home Office, Britain's interior ministry, on the workings of the group, which will report to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary, or interior minister, Charles Clarke.

Meanwhile, former police officers are coming out of retirement to help the stretched London Metropolitan police force, The Guardian said. The July bombings probe is already costing an estimated $890,000 per day above routine costs, it added.