BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The Rev. Ian Paisley, leading spokesman for Northern Ireland's militant protestants, says his American followers plan to sue the U.S. government because he was refused permission to enter the United States.
Paisley applied to visit the United States in July to attend the installation of a minister in his Free Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania and go to a bible conference.
The State Department refused to grant him a visa under a section of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act that excludes aliens whose activities are prejudicial to the public interest, a U.S. embassy spokesman in London said.
The State Department said it 'remains concerned over Dr. Paisley's record of inflammatory actions and statements which we regard as contrary to the interest of the United States in the achievement of a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland,' the spokesman said.
'In light of that conclusion, Dr. Paisley was found ineligible for a U.S. visa.'
Paisley is the head of the Free Presbyterian Church and also a member of the British Parliament. He leads the Democratic Unionist Party, the second largest Protestant group in the House of Commons.
Paisley has used his pulpit, led demonstrations and made public speeches to denounce Roman Catholic attempts to force union with the Irish Republic.
He claimed the visa was refused on the orders of William Clark, the U.S. National Security adviser. Clark is 'a devout Roman Catholic ... who has already said that Americans were praying for a United Ireland,' Paisley told reporters.
'This was in no way a political visit,' Paisley said.
He said members of his Free Presbyterian church in the United States planned to take legal action against the U.S. government on the grounds they had been denied their rights.
Paisley was previously refused entry into the United States in December 1981 when he planned a political tour, promoting the Protestant view of Ulster politics.
He was allowed into the United States last year to attend a funeral.
Also Wednesday, police opened fire on three suspected Protestant extremists in a stolen car, killing one and seriously wounding a second.
Police identified the dead man as William John Millar, 26, described by police sources as an active member of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force that has claimed the murders of scores of Roman Catholics in the past decade.
Police said the suspects were stopped in a stolen car near Queen's University and the officers opened fire when they saw one of the occupants holding a gun.
A submachine gun and a handgun were found in the car, the spokesman said.
The other suspects, one in serious condition from his wounds and the third held for questioning, were not identified.
