Banned scholar on anti-terror panel

UK appointed a Muslim scholar, banned in US and France, to deter youth from flirting with extremism.

A controversial Muslim scholar, who was banned from the US 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.

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Tariq Ramadan, author of books like Western Muslims and Future of Islam, is one of the 13 members appointed by the Government to the task force formed to formulate proposals to deter Muslims from flirting with extremism, a media report said on Wednesday.

The grandson of Hassan al Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Ramadan faces a ban in both the US and France, which 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.

Ramadan has already held talks with the Home Office on the workings of the group, which will report to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke.

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