Denied Muslim scholar gets Swiss help

GENEVA, Switzerland, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A Muslim scholar said Wednesday he is seeking Swiss government support after being denied a U.S. visa to teach at the Univesity of Notre Dame.

"(Swiss Foreign Minister) Micheline Calmy-Rey has personally intervened, through the U.S. embassy in Bern, to get an explanation," Geneva-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan told Swiss news agency Swissworld.

The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed it is giving Ramadan "consular support" but provided no details.

Ramadan said he is "in shock" after hearing his visa had been revoked at the request of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ramadan is a moderate Muslim scholar, but might be considered a security risk since his grandfather founded the Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative group tied to many modern-day terror organizations.

The Department of Homeland Security said Ramadan's visa was revoked because of a law banning foreigners who have used a "position of prominence within any country to endorse or espouse terrorist activity."